Falling Skies
by ashmanonar
Summary: 26 months post BDM - Set in the Coded in Brown 'Verse - Following 3 months after Coded in Brown
1. Chapter 1

26 months post BDM - Set in the Coded in Brown 'Verse (Wash survived BDM) -

* * *

><p>The building was nondescript, about 3 stories in height, made of the standard corrugated steel that cheap industrial buildings were often made of; <em>amazing what sins could be covered up by a thin layer of steel<em>.

The shorter man strode purposefully, shabby bowler hat tilted cockily on his head and an unlit cigar over his ear; he smelt of cigar smoke and strong cheese, and a good layer of body odor. His clothes were shabby and unwashed, and he needed a shave 3 days ago; he leered at the girls every once in a while over his shoulder. The decorative cane tapped the ground as he walked.

Three girls followed him, stumbling over their feet, looking exhausted and terrified and angry. They were all about 5'6"; one had strawberry blonde hair and a nice shiner on her face, which was tightened into an angry grimace, baring her teeth at her captor. The girl with darker hair, and a dancer's body looked unfocused and vague, as though something was wrong with her. The final girl was busty and pretty, mostly untouched; she wore a healthy mask of fear.

The guard outside the Pensar Building saw the new seller approach; _nice selection of goods_.

"Ya haveta sign up here."

"Sounds lovely, mate. 'Fraid'm not familiar wit' th' rules o' yer exchange yet."

"Just sign 'em in, either give their names or just make one up, don't rightfully care. S'long as their collar number is right." The guard picked up each girl's downcast chin, checking them over; the strawberry blonde girl tried to snap her teeth at the guard, and her head was snapped back by the chain in the seller's hand, as he cuffed her expertly. "Better mark this one as belligerent; don't worry none on it, should bring a nice price with certain clients." He looked over the busty brunette, expert eye seeing the very real mask of fear over her pretty face, the tracks of tears visible in the dirt. _She'd make a nice ornament in a rich man's house_. "This'un looks pretty good, not a mark far as I can see."

"Girl 'ad an unhealthy fear o' death." the seller winked, filling out the information on the flimsy.

"This one looks a bit out of it though. She follow orders?" the guard asked, checking over the darker-haired brunette; she had a nice body, but her eyes were too unfocused. She was dirty and had bruises on her arms.

"Should."

"A'right. All looks good, go ahead in and talk with the auctionmaster. Give 'im these chits, he'll put the girls in the selection. Ya can wander about, see if there's anything ya like; just report fer the auction when the collar number comes up."

* * *

><p>They entered the auction house, and found that the building was open plan, 3 stories in height. Girls were lined up along the walls in cages, or held on chains by shabby and disreputable men.<p>

The seller wandered about, seemingly aimlessly; he appraised the other ladies in the place with a practiced eye and seemingly made mental notes about ones he'd be interested in. He also kept away the more hands-on buyers, who seemed to insist on touching the goods. "Ya touch the goods, 't comes outta my cut. Comes outta my cut, I cut it outta ya. Dohn ma? Ya can wait 'til ya make a bid on 'em at auction."

By seeming coincidence, he found himself in front of the business office; he looked around, spotting all of the burly guards along the walls and on the auction block; seemed the auction was about to begin. He thumbed a hidden button on the ivory head of the cane.

* * *

><p>Wash saw the light begin blinking on the control panel, along with a beeping noise; he pulled down the comm, and said "2 minute warning. Be ready to move in 2."<p>

"Affirm." he heard back over the comm. Wash spun up the engines, getting Serenity ready to move in for support if need be.

* * *

><p>Badger thought hard, and River heard it; she touched the other two girls briefly, and conveyed the message.<p>

_2 minutes out. Get ready for fireworks._

As the time ticked down, Badger took one final look around the room for the camera hidden in the cigar over his ear to get a clear count.

His earwig comm whispered "30 seconds, get ready for showtime."

He pressed a second hidden button on the cane, leering offensively to cover his actions. The cuffs on the girls all unlocked.

3 seconds before the doors burst in, River swept gracefully towards the business office, taking down the door with one swift kick and slipping in, entirely unnoticed by everyone in the room until the door broke. With two swift actions, she incapacitated the men sitting at the counting tables, and a third strike gave the man at the computer console a concussion. She grabbed the weapons off of the unconscious men, and ran back out just as the doors burst open, locks shattered by precise explosives.

"Federal Marshals! Everybody freeze!" she heard Mal yell; Mal and Jamie were at one door with Inara not far behind, and Zoe and Jayne kicked in the other door, aiming at the guards nearest to the door.

River tossed 2 of the pistols to Jenny and Petaline, and they took up cover behind convenient posts nearby; Badger pulled his own pistol out of the holster at the small of his back; his gun was loaded with electrical rounds, meant for nonlethal purposes.

The whole room froze for a moment; then moved into action. The various girls in the room, all having resigned themselves to being sold into slavery, now dropped to the ground and took cover. The sellers and buyers in the big room, nearly a hundred, seemed torn between running and fighting, but the large weapons in the hands of the 5 agents entering the room, from the only two entrances or exits, seemed to convince them otherwise. Those who had weapons removed them slowly and set them down, while the guards around the room wavered on protecting their bosses, seeing death in the eyes of the agents that had entered. One lifted his gun to fire, and Jayne dropped him with a chest full of rubber pellets; they hurt like hell but wouldn't kill. The others seemed a mite calmed by that fact, and dropped their weapons nearly as one.

Badger and the ladies helped cuff the sellers and buyers, as Inara read all of the arrested men their charges and rights; local law enforcement agents arrived now to help with the cleanup of the scum.

Within 2 hours of the sting beginning, it had ended, with no loss of life. The arrested slavers, sellers, and buyers, almost 150 in all, were picked up by several prisoner transport vehicles.

Once they were off their hands, the crew of Serenity returned to the ship; exhausted, stressed, and ready for bed, but surprisingly for one of their jobs, with no wounds or injuries of any kind.

"I'm gonna kick your ass in training tomorrow, Badge. Didja really have to hit me?"

"'ey, love. Ifn' I hadn'a hit ya, the guard woulda been all over it. Slave seller like that, they got eyes fer it."

"Okay, I know that. Still."

"Then kick me arse in return. Just sayin', luv. Hadta do it fer th' job to go down smooth."

"Fine. Go take a shower, you smell like ass."

"Unfortunate side effect o' havin' ta look like a slaver; th' buggers needta shower more."

Badger went and took a quick shower, washing away the grime of his disguise, popping a breath refresher to get rid of the smell of the moldy cheese.

* * *

><p>Petaline, River, and Jenny helped each other remove the makeup that had been used to replicate bruises.<p>

"You know he hadta do it, honey." Petaline soothed, checking Jenny's head for a bruise.

"He plays the part a little too well some days." Jenny snarked.

"It's a past life fer him. He just knows how they think."

"He's definitely a bit different now, than even when you came on board. Bit of a civilizing influence, havin' family aboard. Just...sometimes he worries me a bit, knowing what he knows."

"No different than when I first came aboard. They were scared of me too, back then." River murmured. "He's trustworthy, I know that much. Just a good actor."

Jenny nodded. All cleaned up, she went to find some comfort.

* * *

><p>Petaline curled up next to Badger, and he wrapped his arms around her, feeling her fall steadily asleep. These sorts of jobs always exhausted her; mostly emotionally.<p>

He waited until she was completely asleep, then got up, sliding his arm out from under her head. He'd find no sleep tonight, he knew.

* * *

><p>River sat at the co-pilot seat, glancing at Mal as he sat at the pilot's seat.<p>

"Should be asleep, ai ren." he murmured.

"Can't sleep with the thoughts floating."

"I know. Feel 'em too."

"You're getting stronger, ai ren, aren't you?"

"Startin' to understand why you always hated crowds. It's an effort to keep the thoughts out, even with all the bits and pieces in my brainpan."

"You won't ever be quite as strong, I don't think; but you'll have better control."

"Yea. You feelin' Badger wanderin' 'bout too?"

"Thoughts swirling about his part in the raid today. Feeling pain at his usual role; always the inside man, always the criminal."

"It's the role he's good at. Not one of us could pull off that role, 'ception of maybe Jamie. And he looks too clean cut. Either me or Jayne would have killed somebody by now, and we've had two operations go off flawlessly because he's able to scope the situation out right."

"I know that. But I think he may need some encouragement."

"I'll have a chat. Why don't you get autopilot set up and get to bed?"

"Soon as we're enroute."

* * *

><p>Mal found Badger standing on the catwalks, wearing clean sleep clothes and staring out over the overhauled cargo bay; instead of the grating floor, they'd set up padded flooring for any athletic and combat training they needed to do; they also had set up a small firing range at the side of the bay, with armored sections to prevent a hull breech.<p>

Badger seemed to be ignoring him, but Mal could sense that he was aware of his approach.

"You did good today."

"Clearly ya weren't inside wit' us."

"The job went off flawlessly, and nobody even got shot; sounds like a win to me. 'Specially when we rescued what, almost 200 would-be slaves?"

Badger grunted, trying to will Mal away.

"Look. I know what's eating at you."

Badger gave him a strange look now. Mal hadn't let wind of his expanding ability leak to any of the other crew, except Simon and River, although Kaylee probably had a pretty good idea, and Zoe probably knew just from her own observation of the situation; couldn't hide much from the woman.

"You don't like being the bad guy in these situations. I understand that; it's a natural feeling. But in earnest, if we thought you were the kind of man who would take advantage of a situation like that, we'da spaced you long ago."

"That's real comfortin', Mal." Badger snarled. "Yer not the one 'oo 'as to take these ladies inta places they oughtn't ta be, unarmed, and make as if 'e's sellin' 'em off ta slavers. Jus'...brings up bad memories."

"The fact you're feeling badly about it tells me that you're human. That's all. We've all got this dead skin of our former lives hangin' off us; you think Jamie likes bein' reminded of bein' an Operative once? Or that River likes bein' reminded that she's a government-crafted killin' machine? I don't particularly enjoy remembering all of the things I've done as a thief, or as a soldier. Fact is, though, that those things are part o' us. They're the pieces of us that form what we are today. You wouldn't be such an effective inside-man if you didn't have those memories and that part of you. Just as long as you control it, and it doesn't control you...you don't haveta worry 'bout it."

"Wager yer right."

"Why don't you get to bed? Petaline is probably getting lonely." he suggested.

Badger nodded and headed off to bed.

* * *

><p>Petaline stirred slightly as he climbed in, and opened her eyes, examining his face. "I know what yer thinkin', darlin'. We go in as volunteers. We trust ya to bring us out again."<p>

"Ya can honestly say ya don't feel scared 'bout goin' inta those places, chains on ya, and ya 'spect I'll get ya out every time, 'thout fail?"

"Surely do, baby. Wouldn't go in if I didn't." she said, then curled up closer to him, kissing him repeatedly. He finally gave up trying to feel bad, and began kissing her back, feeling her soft skin under his hands as he she moved under his touch.


	2. Chapter 2

They had a working breakfast the next morning; with 12 around the table, it was a mite crowded, but they had put in a bigger table during their refit, so it wasn't a problem. Jamie had his cortex datapad next to his plate, and was working on the files they had recovered from the slaver computers; Inara had an identical datapad by hers, which she used to do all the legal documentation they needed. Jamie had bought a datapad for her after she had borrowed his one too many times (she had threatened playfully to not give it back, and he had fallen prey to her rarely-used puppy dog eyes); she seemed to have become as attached to the device as he had.

Inara had picked up all of their legal work, dealing with charging and transferring prisoners, documenting chain of evidence, processing the release of the rescued slaves, and basically any other business or legal work that needed done. She also came in with them on busts, having worked hard on her armed and unarmed combat.

Mal was busy with all of the paperwork he had been stuck with; he had set up an administrative staff back on Londinium that handled nearly as much as they could, but a great deal of his operational paperwork still fell to him to complete.

Just for a moment, he missed the old days of their less-than-legal ventures; they had more time for fun, back then; more time for thrilling heroics, more freedom to go where they willed. He knew, though, that on the road they had been on, they would all have been killed one day; it hadn't been a simple or easy life, and they had often lacked in basic necessities. They were more comfortable now, and they had purpose; but sometimes, that purpose felt like a cage. It wasn't that they had a quota they had to meet, or that the Prime Minister breathed down their necks; but the problems of the 'Verse didn't stop accumulating when they sat on their laurels. They seemed to pile ever higher before them.

They were getting more help in their newly formed unit every month; after the first month, they had brought Jim Raven and Chin Shu's crews on as additional agents; Raven was currently near Silverhold, from last report, tracking down an organ smuggling ring, and Chin Shu had been running one of the Blue Sun research divisions that had escaped to ground; they had last reported in somewhere in the Georgia system. Neither ship had enough people on board to pull off raids, but they were quite suited for information gathering before Serenity came in and cleaned up.

Monty had decided not to join in; he had turned to legal haulage, which had become more profitable for the independent ship owner since the demolition of Blue Sun and the meteoric rise of the small number of competitor companies. Monty's boat was especially suited to legal haulage; his cargo bay was big enough to take on several cargoes at once, and to combine runs. Monty was already working on paying off his second boat; clearly he was doing well.

Mal only occasionally regretted avoiding the legal haulage business.

Especially when he had to do paperwork.

* * *

><p>He took the incoming 'Wave on the bridge.<p>

"Hello, Mal."

"Mornin', Marcus." Mal said. He was in weekly contact with the former Operative, and had developed a working relationship with him. As Chief of Staff of Prime Minister Charles Atwood, Marcus was their liaison.

"Charles wished me to give you a 'Well Done' for your work on the Aberdeen case; he was most impressed at the thoroughness with which you arrested the slaver cells."

"Appreciate it. What new problems have popped up for us to take care of, now that this hydra's head is gone?"

Marcus did not miss the sarcasm in Mal's voice. "Patience, Mal. Your task is not an easy one, or you would not be needed to complete it. You've removed a large amount of the support structure for the slave trade out of the Kalidasa system; it makes the jobs of marshals in other regions much easier."

"I know. Just feels like we're fighting an uphill battle."

"It may feel like that for some time; the problem has been allowed to run rampant for a considerable amount of time, and that particular hydra has grown many heads. Once you cut deep enough into their organization, though, you should start hitting at the heart."

"S'pose you're right."

"Charles has given me orders that you and your crew are to come to Londinium, and take 3 days' leave, minimum. The crime will still be there when you get back into the field. He'd like to have a short conference while you're here; the Lady's Revenge and Calamity Jane will also be coming in for some much-needed leave."

Mal smiled now. "Think the crew would like that."

"Very well." Marcus smiled. "Talk to you when you get here."

"See you in the world."

Wash looked over at him, eyes shining. "We get a vacation? Shiny."

"Figure you've been sane for too long, need to get a little land-crazy."

"Ha! Some change would definitely be good."

* * *

><p>Jim Raven was in trouble.<p>

Big trouble. Trouble with a capital T.

He looked down at the pixie-haired brunette laying peacefully in his arms, and wondered for the thousandth time how this had come about.

It had started innocently. Cora had taken the death of Jason very hard; the two had been very close. Every night for the two weeks of their stay on the Magellan after Jason died, Cora had appeared in his bunk, looking for comfort; he'd held her as she cried herself out, then would carry her to her own bunk once she'd fallen asleep.

He could hear the little voice in his head warning him even then that it wasn't just her sorrow that drove her here; there was Maggie Mendez to go to, for sisterly solidarity, and she was tight with Al Remshaw. So why did she come to him with her nightmares?

He started to become suspicious when, after their appearance in Parliament, she continued to appear in his bunk after everyone had gone to bed; sometimes she'd cry, but other times he could feel her just relaxing in his arms; they would talk for hours, about little things, unimportant things; he'd talk about the tundra fields of Aesyr, and she'd talk about Pelorum's golden meadows. He finally got sick of carrying her back to her bunk each night and just fell asleep with the girl, trying to maintain an appropriate distance, difficult to do as she tended to cuddle up against him for warmth. For four years he had somewhat successfully kept her at arm's length as just a mei mei; why was she suddenly coming to him now?

One day, after pulling off a particularly difficult maneuver around an asteroid belt, he had complimented her flying with a private smile, one just for her; she took a quick check around the room, saw nobody else present, then jumped up and into his arms, giving him a long kiss. That had seemed to break the floodgates; there was no going back.

_Thank God she's circumspect_, he thought. He couldn't have hidden it for this long if she hadn't been. In public, she acted like a friend and mei mei and pilot, no more; behind closed doors, though, it was considerably less chaste; he managed to hold off the inevitable until they had taken the Marshal job Mal had offered. That night, she had come to his bunk, and sealing the door, took off her robe; she was wearing something slinky and satiny, and somewhat less covering than a bathing suit.

_To hell with self control_, he had thought, taking her in his arms.

He wondered if anybody else on the boat knew; thank the gods that his boat wasn't quite like Mal Reynolds' boat; there were some notable gossips on Serenity, as well as some very perceptive people, and his relationship with Cora would have been quickly noticed.

Jim's people were far less nosy, though, and usually kept their own counsel on things unless it was a problem. He was fairly certain Tom knew; the man was sharp as a tack, and his observant nature had kept both of them safe through thousands of scrapes. He thought he had picked up a disapproving frown once or twice, but hadn't said anything. He wondered about Maggie Mendez; being a woman, she might have had an intuition, but neither she nor Jo Stephens had said a word.

He could tell that she was awake, actually; her breathing hadn't shallowed yet.

"Why?" he asked, quietly.

She looked up at him, confused for a moment; then she realized what he was asking.

"You know, you were the only Captain I had propositioned like that the first day we met. All the others either leered at me or ignored me, and I wasn't real keen on becomin' a Captain's kept woman. But you were different; you were polite, and sorta cute; and after you turned me down the first time, I knew."

"You knew what?"

"I knew you were the right kinda man for me. Wasn't sure if you'd be the one I'd take up with, or one of the crew; but I knew you wouldn't hire bad men, neither."

"So why didn't you take up with one of them?"

"Tom's a sweet guy, but he's kinda intense. Calmed down a bit now that Marcus and he are on better terms though. Jo's got Maggie. And Al...well, you've seen the way he jitters. I'd probably fall outta the bed from the shaking." Jim belly-laughed, getting a hilarious mental image.

"So you were stuck with me, huh? An old, washed up Browncoat?" he snarked.

"I had a crush on you from minute one, bao bei."

"And you held onto that for five years?" he said, feeling vaguely guilty.

"Always thought you'd come to your senses, sweep in and take me off my feet." she murmured, as he tried to distract her by stroking her back.

"'Fraid I'm a bit oblivious occasionally."

"You can say that again." she said, kissing his neck.

"So what finally pushed you into chasing me?"

"Jay. When he died, I realized that life is too damn short. We were in a business where we could all be snatched away in an instant. It's not all that different now, really; these guys we're in the middle of are dangerous. The only thing we have out here in the Black, is each other. Plus, when I saw Mal and River get married...they looked right together."

He smiled, and kissed her gently, then more urgently as both of their pulses rushed.

"Are we going to tell them tomorrow?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yea. Tired of sneaking around."

"Good." she said, then pushed him back onto the pillow, and began kissing him harder.

* * *

><p>When he got to breakfast that morning, arm around Cora, they all looked up briefly with their usual morning greeting, and looked back to their meals.<p>

_Tom must have cooked, _Jim thought, looking at the unappetizing mess of eggs. _At least we have real food, thanks to this Marshal gig. Could use somebody to cook it though._

"Mornin', everybody. We've got a bit of an announcement."

Remshaw said, without looking up from his datapad newsletter, "You and Cora are knockin' boots. We know."

"We're...wha? You know?"

"Known since before we took this gig." Remshaw muttered through a mouthful of eggs.

"But-"

Maggie Mendez looked up, smirk across her Latinate features. "Cora came to me for a birth control shot a week before we became Marshals."

"I-"

"Jim, you know us better than that. Do you really think we didn't notice her sneaking out of your room every morning?" Tom said, big grin on his face.

"Jim, honey. Breathe." Cora said, slightly flushed from embarassment, but better off than Raven was.

He smiled at that. "Okay. Well, since there isn't any surprise to it, we'll start acting like it."

Jo Stephens smirked up at him in one of his rare smiles. "No PDA please. Stomache couldn't handle it." Maggie smacked his arm, and he went back to eating.

Ken Baldwin, the Federal Marshal that had been assigned to them as their liaison and as an investigative agent, smirked. "Even I knew, and I don't know you guys as well." He looked down at the remains of the eggs on his plate. "Think I'm done with breakfast. Should go make the 'Wave to base."

"I'll join you. Cora, you're up for bridge duty anyways, right?"

"Yep. Let me choke down some eggs."

"See you there. Don't think I could get them down today."

* * *

><p>"Hello, Jim, Ken."<p>

"Mornin', Marcus."

"Is my brother there?"

"He's cleaning up his mess in the kitchen, I think."

"Ahh. Should I be hiring you a cook?" Marcus smirked.

"Can't imagine why we'd need one." Jim laughed.

"We'll be sure to have the cooks ready for you when you arrive then. We're holding a little conference at Charles' estate. Mal is already on his way, and Chin Shu is my next call. You'll all get at least 3 days of leave when you reach here."

"Sounds good."

"See you soon."

* * *

><p>"See you soon, Marcus."<p>

"And you, Chin."

Chin Shu cut off the 'Wave and looked to Ben Roselin, his first mate and pilot. "You think they're gonna dress us down for not getting anywhere with the leads?"

"Can't rightly say. Isn't that easy to follow the traces we have been; still, could have had better luck. _Jao gao."_

"Our luck should start improving."

Sergeant Claudia Braeden stepped onto the bridge of the Calamity Jane, sitting at the navigator's spot. She wore semi-military civilian clothes, a Hawker long-9 pistol grip shotgun in a tactical holster on her hip. She was striking; not incredibly beautiful in the conventional sense, but lean and angular, like a predatory cat. Her black hair was cut short, razor edged and spiked in back; her clear mocha skin shining in the bridge lighting. "What news from home base?" Braeden asked in a deep contralto.

"We're heading back. I let Marcus know that we're having trouble following the leads; didn't sound angry, but who knows with that guy. He said we'll get 3 days of leave." Chin Shu wasn't particularly fond of Marcus, but was willing to work with him.

"Sounds good. Two months of nonstop searching, with nothing discovered; kind of disheartening. Could use the break to freshen our minds up."

"We're looking for covertly hidden Blue Sun researchers; not exactly the easiest to find. They're not going to make the same mistakes that the slavers Serenity's been taking down will make. God willing, they may have some clues we can work with." Roselin said.

* * *

><p>"And you are sure they will not be bothering us?" the heavily accented voice said; the shadows of the room hid his face.<p>

"There are no traces to us, sir. No loose ends. Our research facilities are well-hidden, and there is no trace left of when they were moved." The Chinese man sat back in the comfortable chair; he wore a nice suit, in the fusion Asian/Western style. He was slightly thinner now.

"That is good news." the old man chortled. "Be sure to continue your research. Your reputation is growing, my friend."

"I know how you feel about reputation."

"Yess, reputation is important! Is people talking...is gossip. I am glad you understand my feelings on reputation. There are those who don't..."

The Chinese man smiled, his lips a thin slash across his face. "I believe I know whom you speak of. He has sullied my reputation as well."

"Yess. We shall take care of this upstart; you and I."

"Reynolds is untouchable at the moment. He has high level Parliamentary attention, an extremely loyal crew, and a ship that by all reports is now armed. But there are other ways to destroy a man..."

"I look forward to meeting this _new_ Malcolm Reynolds." the wrinkled old man leaned forward with a grin, his glasses glinting in the light. "The old one was rather damaged for my tastes." Adelei Niska chuckled grimly.


	3. Chapter 3

Inara blinked awake; she looked at the antique mechanical clock she used on the bedside table; 3:13 ship time. She reached to the other side of the bed, found it empty, the covers turned back. Frowning, she slipped out of bed and slid on a long silk robe, tying it at the waist. Putting on her soft shipboard slippers, she padded out into the darkened ship. She heard the ever present sounds of the ship in flight; the soft hum of the radion accelerator, the whirring fans of the atmo processors, the soft gurgle of the shipboard plumbing, and the silence of the crew, all deep asleep in their bunks.

She slid into the opened bridge door, and leaned against the frame, peeking around the corner. Jamie sat alone on the darkened bridge, in his own warm robe, tapping away at the cortex panel in his lap. His face was lit by the night-darkened instruments on the bridge, and by the lambent glow of his pad; she could see that his eyes were sunken and bleary.

He looked up at her, and she saw his face more clearly; he looked like the image of a refugee from a war. His eyes were pitted and dark, filled with sorrow and fear.

She rushed to him, and he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Bao bei, what's wrong?" she whispered.

"Just couldn't sleep. Thought I'd get some work done. Found something bad."

"Shuh ma?" she asked soothingly.

"At least 30% of the slaves going through the Aberdeen markets weren't going to private buyers. Horrific as the pleasure slave industry is, they at least mean to keep them alive. When I tried to follow the paper trail on this 30%, I got stonewalled. Somebody doesn't want them to be found."

"Maybe you don't have access to the right information yet."

"I'm praying that's so." he whispered, looking up at her. "Maybe Raven or Shu have some new information for me to look at when we get to Londinium. But my gut tells me that something bad is happening to these people; the demographics are too balanced and even for my stomach, almost as if they're trying to get a reasonable mix of population."

"What does that mean?" she asked; she knew a bit about it herself, but wanted to see where he was going first.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say they're trying for an optimum test subject demographic." he muttered darkly.

"Wuo de mah." she whispered, and sank to her knees next to him as the implications filled her head. He put one hand on her cheek, and she put hers over it. "Come to bed, honey. You can't do anything more with this until we reach Londinium, and you're going to burn yourself out if you try."

He gave a ghost of a smile, and stood out of the chair, pulling her up with him.

There wouldn't be much sleep for them this night, though.

* * *

><p><em>The guard's throat opened neatly beneath the carbon-black blade in his hand; and he gently set the man down, pulling him into an alcove to keep him out of sight. He slid the blade away into its sheath, and his partner joined him from the opposite end of the corridor, wiping off his own blade. With a quick flurry of hand signals, they proceeded further into the officer quarters of the mansion; 3 more sentries died silently.<em>

_Ghost and Spectre were met in the corridor by Wraith; he had been entering via the back door to clear them a road._

_Wraith easily hacked into the door controls, and the security panel slid open; inside, their target slept peacefully. _

_Standing over him, the three pulled their silenced handguns, and aimed; as one, they pulled the trigger, and the target shuddered once, falling still. One of the leather-gloved men tossed three defaced coppers onto the body, and the three silently slid out of the secured mansion, to their waiting ship._

Jayne came to slowly; he kept himself from reacting to the dream, and felt the warmth of Jenny in his arms, felt her steady breathing. He kissed her neck once, then slid quietly out of bed and dressed.

It was only 5 am, and everybody was still asleep. His practiced hearing picked up the normal operating sounds of Serenity, along with the sleeping sounds of 11-no, make that 10 people. Somebody was up and about, and he had a pretty good idea of who it was.

River was sitting at the kitchen table already, coffee in hand, taking a sip when he stepped quietly in; normally he stomped about, the better to make people underestimate him.

"Good morning, Ghost." she whispered, a grim smile on her face.

"You saw it, huh? Saw my dream?" he asked quietly; no sense in waking people up.

She nodded silently, and he saw her eyes appraising him. "Why didn't you ever tell Mal?"

"Didn't see as it was his business. He certainly don't tell all about his days in the war."

She nodded again. "Would you tell me more though?"

"Whyn't ya read it outta my head?" he grinned.

"Promised I wouldn't." she pouted. "If that's an invitation, though..."

"No way in hell, little girly. No peekin' through the gray matter. Might not like whatcha find."

"If you won't talk about it, the girl will not push." she said matter of factly. He knew she was a bit upset though, nothing brought out the third-person talk like it. He sighed.

"There were 3 of us. I was Ghost, and you've met Spectre. The third, Wraith, I haven't seen or heard from in a long time."

"You were the Shadows. Known only as rumor. Phantoms of the war."

"Best killers this side o' the Academy an' th' Operatives." he grinned, semi-pridefully.

"Why did you quit then?"

"War ended. Wanted to move on with my life, find somethin' new. Found a woman, bought a farm. Turned out th' only thing I was good at was killin', woman was a bitch."

She barked out a laugh. "You'll have to tell me more some day. Captain is waking up."

"Maybe some day you'll catch me drunk enough." he grinned.

Jayne got up, walking off to find Jenny. _Time for a quickie before breakfast._ River scrunched up her face as she got a broadcasted mental image; times like these, Reading was definitely a curse.

Mal walked in, following the scent of coffee like a caffeine-seeking zombie.

"Mornin', ai ren. Had a weird dream just now."

"Not your usual war nightmares?"

"Nah. Dreamt I was an assassin named Ghost, had two partners; we was killin' a target all silent-like. Never dreamt nothin' like it before."

"Strange." she muttered. "I dreamt of horseback riding." she said, grinning at him.

* * *

><p>River noticed that Jamie and Inara were bleary eyed, looking like 20 miles of bad road; they didn't look like they had been fighting (they were practically sitting in each other's laps for breakfast). She wondered what had happened last night to give them both such useless sleep. She occasionally hated how close Jamie kept his mind, and this was one of those times. Inara was similarly defended; he must have been teaching her some tricks to solidify her control over her mind.<p>

Although River had promised not to read her friends intentionally, there had been an unspoken caveat between her and Mal; she did occasionally test the waters, keeping an eye on her family's emotional state.

They were all over the board today; Jayne and Jenny were still flush from their before-breakfast activities, although she still felt shadows of darkness in him that faded as he sat next to Jenny's brilliance. Badger seemed to be feeling better about himself, probably Petaline's doing last night, she decided. Zoe and Wash were still riding the wave of their successful raid of two days ago, although she also felt an additional spark between them. Mal was...actually doing much the same thing she was doing, judging the emotions of the crew. _My job, ai ren._

_Wei! Captain here, needs to do Captainy things like this._

She felt Kaylee and Simon's glow; an additional spark flitted about brightly there, too. _Have to warn Simon soon, _she thought to herself.

* * *

><p>Jamie found Mal on the bridge after breakfast; Mal looked up at the younger man with some concern. "Problems, Jamie?"<p>

"Nothing to do with me and Inara, if that's what you're asking." he smiled, a pale ghost of a smile that set off Mal's alarms.

"What's wrong then?"

"I couldn't sleep last night, came up to do some work." He explained the information he had found, the conclusion he had been forced to come to.

"Nightmarish." Mal whispered; what Jamie had found had spooked him.

"That's about the size of it." Jamie replied.

"I gotta think on this some. We gotta get together with the others, see if we can pin down the source on this. Meantime, I'm ordering you and Inara to go to bed. You two look like 20 miles of bad road towards hell. I'm sending Simon down with sedatives in 5 minutes; you aren't there, he'll come looking for you."

Jamie smirked, _finally a real smile._ "Shi ah, Cap'n."

* * *

><p>Simon peeked in the door to Jamie and Inara's room, sedatives in hand; he didn't know whether Mal was joking or not, but he'd learned never to question an order like that.<p>

Inara was sprawled across Jamie, and they were wrapped together tightly, Inara snoring loudly. Simon smiled, and crept in, pulling the covers up over them, then slipping out and locking their door.

* * *

><p>By end of the second day, they were in the core White Sun system; taking up a standard approach to Londinium, they were cleared through space control and landed on Atwood's estate within a few hours. Lady's Revenge came in an hour later, landing beside Serenity; Calamity Jane set down about a half hour later.<p>

Each ship was met by Marcus and several porters; the crews were helped inside with their luggage, to very nice private quarters in Atwood's estate.

When the crew of Lady's Revenge arrived, River and Mal had accompanied Marcus to the landing site; when Cora had walked down the ramp, standing just a little too close to Raven, River shrieked in joy and ran to hug Cora. Mal stepped forward, grin coloring his face. "Welcome back, Jim."

"Hello again, sir."

"Cut the sirrin'."

"Okay, Mal. Good to be back."

Mal smirked. "See you've been keeping busy."

"Mal-"

"Jim, I could say something about maintaining discipline on your ship, but considering I _married_ my little brunette pilot, I ain't got no place to say nothin'. Just...know what you're getting into."

"I understand."

"And congratulations." Mal grinned.

"Thanks. I guess it's been a long time coming, for her anyways. Feels all sorts of new for me." Jim looked over at Cora and River; the pair were arm-in-arm and chattering excitedly, walking in towards the house.

Marcus looked on, bemused. He had lived outside of the real world, the world of families and friendship, for too long; _Maybe I should look into finding a woman too._

* * *

><p>Once Calamity Jane had landed, and was met by Raven, Mal, and Marcus, the crews all got together into one of the entertainment rooms at the mansion. They played games, sipped drinks and talked, and relaxed after months of hard traveling and investigating.<p>

Marcus, Jim, Chin, Mal, and the Prime Minister met in Atwood's private library.

"Alright, gentlemen. I know somewhat of Mal's team's successes; the release of between 500 and 1000 would-be slaves caught quite a bit of cortex attention." Mal just shook his head, grimacing. "Something wrong with that, Mal?"

"Public attention makes our jobs harder. We need that anonymity to work."

"No mention was made of the heroes responsible, much to the regret of the Marshals and our own office. Your identities, while not completely in black ops territory, should be safe for now. Break a few more slave rings and that might change." Charles grinned; strange that this man should feel bad about his own success.

"It's not that, Charles." Mal said. "On the way in from Aberdeen, my cortex investigator, Jamie, ran across something that smelled foul." He explained Jamie's discovery, and the implications involved; before he was done, all of the assembled men had a sour look on their faces. "Hell, Jamie and Inara were all manner of messed up, couldn't sleep that night at all."

"Any chance he could be mistaken?"

"Well, the proof isn't there yet. We could be looking at simply a sideline of the slavers. I doubt it though; Jamie is very thorough, and I've learned to trust his instincts by bitter experience. The man has a mighty fine nose for this work, and we're better off believing his notion."

"Could it be tied into the Blue Sun investigation we've been working?" Shu asked, vaguely horrified at the thought.

"It's the worst, but most accurate possibility." Mal said. "What could you find?"

"A whole lotta nothing. We followed up all manner of leads; ship transport records, missing persons reports, even talked to a few local sheriffs and lawmen about their local area patrolling. Everywhere we went was a stone wall. We remained covert as best as possible, which may have kept several leads from going anywhere."

"That at least tells us something." Raven said thoughtfully. "Wouldn't be traces leading to a hard wall without something causing them."

"It does at that. It just doesn't tell us where to look." Mal said, mirroring Raven's expression.

"I disagree, gentlemen. As I once boasted to Mal, I know how to read between the lines." Marcus said. "It seems to me that we have disparate sections of the same picture here. On one hand, we have the suppliers; slave rings that normally deal in strictly women and strong men, for prurient use or as muscle; on the other, we have a buyer who seems to request a broad variety of phenotypes for their purchases. We know that Blue Sun managed to hide most of their remaining off-world research, after the company was broken up."

"You're thinkin' that the two operations are linked?"

"We find the one, and we should find the other." Heads nodded at this. Charles Atwood felt a little in over his head in these dealings; he was a politician, not an investigator. Mal leaned towards him and whispered "Don't worry, I don't feel like much of an investigator m'self," then stiffened when he realized that he had acted on the man's thoughts, and not his words. _Now I know why River did it so often, still does._

Atwood gave Mal a long look, then turned his attention back to the others as they discussed possible entry methods into the possible covert organization.

Finally Jim Raven got the floor, to speak about his organ smuggling ring information.

"We managed to pin down 3 or 4 of the private clinics where we know they're operating; places a little too heavily guarded to just be clinics. We also have 3 or 4 names of ringleaders, although whether they're aliases or not, we're not sure. One is-"

"Womack." Mal snarled.

"Yea. Huen Dahn bowed out of government service during the Academy affair, decided to try his hand at going full-time smuggler. He appears to be one of the ringleaders, probably the one who gets sent to take care of problems. How did you know, Mal?"

"Ran into him some time back, before Miranda. Old war buddy of ours was playing courier for him, and boosted a set of experimental organs. Found his way to us in a box, and woke up; Womack followed us to St. Albans and we bluffed him out of taking us in; poor kid was shot and killed though." Mal artfully left out the part where _he_ had shot Tracey; it would only cause complications.

"Well, we think we may have a line on where he hides out; given the right backup, say, a certain Firefly class ship and her crew, we might be able to pull the bastard in and get him to spill the whole organization."

"It sounds like a plan, Jim. Approved." Marcus said, grinning slightly.

"Chin, when your leave is done, pick up where you left off; see if you can't break a hole in the wall for us to fly through." Mal said, slotting approval into his voice of command.

"We're ready to take off now, Mal-"

"When your leave is done. You've been working nonstop for 2 months. Take 3 days and get off the ship for a while, see the sights here."

Chin nodded, smiling. "Don't need to order me twice."


	4. Chapter 4

On their first day of leave on Londinium, the crews of Lady's Revenge, Serenity, and Calamity Jane hit the town. After months in the Black, they were all ready for some fresh air and sunshine, the hustle and bustle.

Most of the women went shopping for the day, meeting the rest of the crews for lunch at the Lonely Cod, a large pub in the heart of Londinium. The pub was an exact replica of an Earth-that-Was English pub, with excellent pub food and a whole selection of stouts and ales. The crews ate well, and most of the women went out for another round of shopping, while the rest scattered about in groups, looking for entertainment. A large group found a local arcade, with virtual reality games, as well as more traditional skill and chance-based amusements. A somewhat smaller group found a fairly dingy bar, near to a blackout zone, that served some of the best beer they ever had; they were all fairly soused by the time everyone returned to the estate for dinner.

* * *

><p>"Wass th' bes' damn' beer I ever tasted." Mal slurred; Jim Raven, Jayne, Jo Stephens, Ken Baldwin, Claudia Braeden, and Badger had spent the day at the Salty Dog Tavern getting thoroughly drunk.<p>

"It sounds like it, bao bei." River quipped, amused at the headache they'd all have in the morning.

Jamie presented Inara with an overstuffed bear, won at the arcade; he turned out to have an uncanny talent for skeeball. Inara was delighted with the playful gift.

Marcus joined them for dinner, pleased to finally have somebody to spend time with; despite his position as Chief of Staff, he had no family or friends other than the crews of the three ships, and his brother.

River sat at the table, somewhat destabilized by the day's exposure to strangers and the sheer number of people around the table. She forced herself to calmness, focusing on the purest minds she could; Jayne's usual steady rocks of thoughts were tumbling today, rolling about from the drink and the excitement of being on leave. Mal's familiar darkness of thoughts was spinning about, lit by a hurricane of sheer joy at being with what he considered family, with a new wife and a job they could finally be proud of.

She finally found calmness with two minds at the table; she felt the calm, deep pools of Marcus' mind and the steady green fields of Claudia Braeden's thoughts. She found something interesting in Braeden's mind; Marcus seemed to be occupying her mind more and more often. She nonchalantly observed the two as they flirted unconsciously, and a smile grew unobserved on her face.

* * *

><p>Marcus surprised them all the next day by having them pack for a night trip and ushering all of them onto a large shuttle. They found camping gear for everybody on board, along with refrigerated coolers of food and drink.<p>

"I thought you all might like a day in the woods; there is a park along the Thames river that has a campsite and a number of natural attractions. It is as untouched by civilization as you can find on Londinium."

Still hung over, Mal smiled. "Sounds like a great idea."

* * *

><p>The Thames River Natural Reserve park was beautiful; looking much like a natural reserve from the American Northwest on Earth-That-Was, it was a prime spot for vacationers, hikers, and wildlife watchers.<p>

The crews enjoyed the attractions, fishing, hiking, and climbing all day. After returning with the evening and pitching the tents, the friends gathered around a large campfire. Jayne had brought out his guitar, and Al Remshaw pulled out a small wooden flute. Everybody relaxed as the night wore on, just quietly talking, enjoying the peace.

Marcus and Tom sat side-by-side, eating the stew that Jenny had cooked up over the fire. Both men were companionably silent, remembering the last time they had sat around this campfire, when they were both children. Tom suddenly looked up, and grinned, then said "Gotta go." and went off to find somewhere else to sit.

"This seat taken?" a smoky, dark, work-roughened voice said. Marcus looked up into the striking, angular face of Claudia Braeden.

"Not at all. Please, sit." he said, scooting slightly to give her room. She sat right next to him, almost touching him, despite the extra space, and dug into her own bowl of stew.

"This is good stuff. Kinda sad that we don't have a cook as good as Jenny on Calamity Jane."

"I'd be hard-pressed to find a cook as good as Jenny even on Londinium. She's got quite the talent."

"Pretty damned good shot, too, from what I heard."

"She is. Talented marksman for only having shot for a few months."

"So you're the chief of staff of the prime minister." she temporized, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. In her peripheral vision, she could see Tom sitting with Chin Shu, and the two beginning to roar with laughter as they looked her way.

"Yes, that occupies much of my time. I also act as a liaison for your crews with the Marshals. It is interesting work, but not quite the exciting field work I would prefer."

"Maybe you should come out on the ships more often, do some work _hands-on_." she wheedled, a grin growing on her face.

"That sounds like an interesting idea. Which ship do you think I should come with?" he said, in a lower tone. _Hmm. I haven't had this kind of interest in...ugh, has it really been that long?_

"If you didn't have any particular one in mind, I could probably think of one." she said, looking away nonchalantly. _Step in, turn to the right._

"Really? I already had one in mind, to be honest." _Step to the left, draw foot to meet._

"Ahh, I'd imagine Serenity, huh?" she teased. _Spin out, and back in to meet._

"Well...in point of fact, I thought Calamity Jane could use my help in penetrating the Blue Sun labs first." _Tilt her back, hold that pose..._

"I think the Captain could be persuaded." she said. "I'm feeling a bit restless, want to come for a walk?" she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet; he got the distinct feeling he didn't really have a choice in the matter.

"I believe I shall." he said dryly; River caught his eye across the campfire, and he saw that she had a broad smile on her face.

River had observed the intricate dance steps from across the fire; Mal had been involved in talk with Raven about some damnfool thing, and had totally missed it. She beamed when she saw Braeden nearly drag Marcus away from the fire, and thought, _It seems the Serenity loveboat curse doesn't just work on Serenity. Maybe it's you, bao bei?_

Mal had continued talking with Raven, but she heard back _How's that?_

_Marcus and Claudia just disappeared off somewhere._

_Ha! I thought something was going on at dinner yesterday._

_Like I said, bao bei. You're a walking match-maker._

* * *

><p>Everybody slept in the next morning, and after cleaning up their campsite, returned to their ships about noontime.<p>

River pulled Mal away from the estate, and they called for a hover car; following directions that River had requested from the Prime Minister, they arrived at a nondescript office-like building in the capitol city of Londinium itself.

* * *

><p>"Good day, Lisa." Doctor Shaver said, opening her door and coming in. A nurse followed with a tray of lunch.<p>

Lisa Lang was sitting at the small desk in her room, writing.

"Nurse Liang told me that you didn't have any nightmares last night."

"That's right, doctor." Lisa smiled up at the short, slightly graying doctor. He looked over her shoulder nonchalantly, and saw that she was writing in her journal. He looked away again, respecting her privacy.

"I'm glad to see you're writing in your journal. I think it's really helping you."

"So do I, Doctor. It's nice to be able to talk about some of these things."

Doctor Padraig Shaver smiled down at her. Patient Lisa Lang was doing extraordinarily well, for a person who had been programmed by the finest butchers and brainwashers in the Alliance. She was slightly emotionally immature; although 20 years old physically, she acted more like a girl of no more than 13. Her years in the Academy had stunted her emotional growth slightly, but she had made leaps and bounds in recent days to advance her maturity level.

"I was thinking, Doctor. There's someone I'd like to talk to."

"Who is that?"

"River Tam, my friend from the Academy."

"I think that can be arranged. I'll go see if I can get you a 'Wave terminal." Doctor Shaver smiled at her again; a visit with a friend might be just the thing.

He left again, and Lisa ate her lunch. Doctor Shaver came back in about a half hour later, with nothing in his hands and a somewhat downcast look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Lisa, I couldn't get a 'Wave terminal for you."

"I understand Doctor. I just...I wanted to talk to her." the girl was unreasonably disappointed.

"I think I've got the next best thing, though." he grinned, as two people entered the room behind him.

"River!" the girl shrieked, and rushed over to embrace her friend. River hugged her, and pulled her over to the bed, where they sat down and began chattering like teenagers again. Lisa was excited at the news of River being married; although she'd been on the ship when it had happened, she'd been so out of it at the time that it had seemed like a dream. River heard all about the kindly doctors and nurses, and that one male orderly who was so swai...

* * *

><p>Mal pulled the doctor aside, and they chatted in the corner.<p>

"How's she doin', doc?"

"Although I have to respect doctor-patient confidentiality, I can say that she's doing remarkably well. We've removed almost all of the primary trigger responses that had been embedded in her, and a good deal of the secondary responses. The combat training is something we'll never be able to get out of her; it's a muscle memory, rather than a neurological response. At least we've removed the triggers, although I have the feeling she retains much more control over it now."

"So you think she'll completely recover?"

"She's already well on her way. I think she'll be a happy, well-adjusted 20 year old in just a few month's time, maybe 8 months at the outside. I am concerned, though...I know that you know her from your attack on the academy, and that Mrs. Reynolds is well-acquainted with her. We've had trouble identifying if she has any living family. Do you know of any?"

"Can't say that I do, Doc. Don't know the girl that well, I'm afraid."

_She doesn't,_ he heard.

"River says she doesn't though." Mal whispered to the doctor.

"How do you know?"

"Because she just told me." The doctor's mouth dropped wide open at that.

"Well, anyways. Although the Alliance will certainly look to take care of her once she's released from our custody, I'm afraid she doesn't really have any family to look to."

"It's a damned shame." Mal said, seeing where this was leaning.

"It's not something we need to worry on right now, as she has a long way to go before she's ready to move on; but it is something we need to keep on the back burner. She'll need a place to go, that has work structured enough to keep her on an even keel while she settles into life on her own."

"We'll be able to figure something out by that point. My boat is already full enough, and it ain't exactly the safe life we lead."

"Oh, no. That's not what I was aiming at, Captain. I was just wondering if you knew of anybody who would be willing to take up a guardianship position for the girl."

"I'll think on it and let you know."

"Thanks, Captain."

Lisa and River visited for another half hour, then Mal and River had to go; Lisa said goodbye to them sadly, but was satisfied with a promise of a future visit.

* * *

><p>By the end of their three days of rest, the crews were rarin' to go; ships were seen to, guns were being cleaned, and their flight plans were being set.<p>

The evening of the third day, Marcus showed up at Calamity Jane with a bag. "Permission to come aboard, Captain."

"Permission granted. Come on up." Shu smiled, motioning over his shoulder to show Marcus where to put his things.

"Glad you're comin' along with us; with your knowledge, might be we'll find that hole Cap'n Reynolds was talkin' about."

"I'm glad to be coming along. Sitting at that desk all day does tend to grate on one."

"Hopefully the Prime Minister's office won't fall apart with you gone?"

Marcus chuckled. "My administrative assistant takes care of most of the actual work in the office anyways. I only tend to get in the way, gum up the works with my short circuiting of the system."

Marcus and Shu passed Braeden in the common area; she grinned at Marcus, seeing his bag over his shoulder. "Dinner's in 30!" she called after them.

Marcus grinned back at her, and continued on to the passenger dorms, dropping his bag in his bunk.

* * *

><p>River sat at the galley table after the evening meal, her guns disassembled around her. She didn't have all that many guns, at least not as many as Jayne, but she had 4 or 5 small, concealable pistols, a long-barreled scoped rifle, and a pair of boot daggers. Mal walked in just as she started polishing the long, shining blade that was her most recent acquisition. He winced as he saw the sword, then grabbed a drink and sat down at the table.<p>

"Never can get used to that thing."

"What? It was a wedding gift." River said innocently, although she knew quite well that Mal associated that sword with more than a few of the scars he carried. Marcus had given them both the sword on their wedding day, claiming that it would get more use in "better hands."

"Weddin' gift or not, it's creepifyin' the way you moon over that steel."

"I could get the purloined Reaver weapon." she said saucily.

"On second thought, I'm fine with this one." he grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

Robert Womack wasn't happy.

Not at all. He'd been called away from a very lovely little lady, one he'd paid good money for, and asked to meet with his contact.

* * *

><p>"Skunk, where did they say we needed to go?"<p>

"The cortex message said Elias Unger at Longport. Usual arrangement, all the security codes were there."

"Alright. Set us down there."

The modified former ASREV that Womack and his toadies, Skunk and Fendris had stolen when they went AWOL set down at the Longport cargo slots; Longport was a bustling industrial area, a long dock-like structure lined with ship pads that was flanked on both sides by heavy industrial manufacturing, and the ASREV (modified to appear as a different ship; the Alliance wouldn't be too happy with seeing that particular stolen ship) wouldn't be noticed here, nor would her three former Federals in their new guise as mercenaries and gut-runners.

Womack and his boys had lit out at the first sign of trouble from the Alliance; when a full third of Parliament had been arrested, and most of the high-ranking military officers had been indicted for charges ranging from corruption to genocide, they'd seen the writing on the wall.

Stealing the ship, they'd left their badges on their desks and took off, landing in an area they'd cased before, during their infrequent visits to keep up their cover as Alliance officers. In the Snake Pit, they were welcome; this was the territory of smugglers, mercenaries, and slavers. They had fit right in.

* * *

><p>Womack swept in the door of the dingy industrial office that he usually met his contact at; Elias Unger was the Shipping Manager of an industrial facility at the docks, and used his position to arrange for the movement of various illicit cargos mixed among the legitimate ones he oversaw. Unger sat at his desk, face neutral.<p>

His boys followed in behind him, then Womack heard something that he didn't want to hear; the zing-click of several weapons arming.

"Robert Womack, Marvin Skonkworth, David Fendris, you are hereby bound by law for the charges of murder, smuggling, organ-smuggling, and grand theft of Alliance property."

Womack held his hands up slowly; he recognized that voice. Malcolm Reynolds stood there in his brown duster, long-barreled auto-revolver in one hand, arrest warrant in the other; the big merc Womack remembered as wearing the dumb orange hat held a Callahan auto-lock on Skunk, and the black woman held her Mare's Leg steady on Fendris. A tall, dark-haired, beautiful woman stood in one corner, small automatic in hand, with a shoulder bag; a tall, black-haired man with a dark goatee stood in the other, an Alliance-issue sonic weapon in hand. All wore Marshal's stars.

"You stupid sonuvabitch, Unger..." Womack growled over his shoulder.

"I couldn't help it! She knew that I was putting the duress-" Womack heard the sound of the man being cuffed.

Womack was thinking about diving for cover and drawing his weapon when he heard a light thump behind him, and turned to see a shining chrome automatic held steadily between his eyes by a little wisp of a brunette that stood on Unger's desk; her eyes were dark as sable, glowing brightly from within with an angry fire.

"I wouldn't. Chances of successfully dodging two shots at point blank range and successfully shooting all of us are less than 3.3%."

"_Ung Jeong Jia Ching Jien Soh_."

"Not us, but I understand that Skonkworth has been tempted by the local goats." she shot back, a sardonic grin on her face. Womack spun, saw Skunk's face suddenly fall in shock, eyes widening.

"Alright, 'Tross. 'Nough of that." Reynolds said, with a note of humor in his voice. Womack could see that the big merc was grinning openly, and thought he saw the ghost of a smile on the black woman's face. She put up her weapon and expertly frisked the men, finding their weapons and backup pieces; the slim brunette pointed at Fendris, and Zoe checked again, finding the long carbon-fiber blade the man habitually wore under his belt.

All three men were cuffed and put into an open mule, with the merc and the tall goateed man with them, and driven aboard the ramp of a ship sitting on the nearest pad. Womack recognized Serenity from his previous visit. A short, weaselly man and a busty brunette were on the ramp, along with a strawberry blonde girl of 20 or so; she was pretty, but it was somewhat set off by the cold expression she wore, and the massive 10 gauge shotgun held steadily in her hands.

The goateed man drove the mule back off the ship, heading back to get the other agents and probably his contact, Unger.

_I'm gonna kill that man for this._ he thought, unconvinced of it himself.

* * *

><p>The corrupt shipping manager had been carted off to Serenity, and River and Zoe had accompanied him; Jamie, Inara, and Mal had remained behind to clear up the scene and wait for the local law to come and tape it off.<p>

Jamie was copying the computer files of the shipping manager onto data sticks, and Inara was cataloguing physical evidence; Mal, with considerably less to do, watched out the door, waiting for the law.

"Most of this information should come in handy, Mal. This guy was connected, and I do mean connected." Jamie muttered, scanning the information he was copying quickly.

"Good. Oughta take a few bricks out of the fortress."

"I'll be done here in just a few minutes, Mal. You can head back if you want, and we'll wait for the locals to get here and cordon it off."

"Okay. I've gotta make sure River and Jayne don't scare 'em too much." Mal grinned, striding off to the docks.

"_Ri shao gou shi bing_, I feel dirty just even dealing with this kind of scum." Inara muttered, drawing an amused glance from Jamie for her language.

"Jayne has been a bad influence on you, bao bei." he smirked.

"It's just tragic. We haven't even dealt with any of the actors in this yet, just their support and muscle; I don't want to think about what we'll find when we get closer in."

"Don't think on it now. Won't be able to do our jobs if you do. We get done with this, we'll take a few off, maybe find a nice private beach somewhere..."

She smiled, and ran one hand along the back of his neck. "I hear tell that Bellerophon has some beautiful beaches, even some nice little private ones."

"We'll get there, bao bei. Let's finish up here, then get back to Serenity once those slowpokes arrive."

* * *

><p>The four men that had been bound by law now sat in the unused passenger dorm section of Serenity; this one had been strengthened with the addition of bars, and it did double-duty as a prison cell when it was needed. They were all cuffed, and Womack realized after working at them for about 20 minutes, cuffed securely. It didn't look like there was a good way out of this one.<p>

The door unlocked and slid open, and the big merc motioned for Womack to get up; he stood slowly, looking for an opening, maybe; the sonic weapon in the ape's hands was steady as a rock though, and he saw that the man was a stone-cold killer.

"We're gonna be havin' a little chat." he said, then pulled the man out and locked the door again.

The others looked at each other worriedly.

* * *

><p>Womack was pushed to his knees in the little storage room off the galley; the big man, Jayne, as he'd been referred to, was standing in front of him, looking all manner of intimidating. Although Womack wasn't a weak man, and wasn't a coward, he had to admit that the former merc knew how to look intimidating well enough. Coming in behind the merc were Reynolds and the little wisp of a girl.<p>

"You're gonna be tellin' us all you know about the organization; locations, names, schedules, everything."

"_Chui Se._"

"Well, then. I guess this falls to you, Jayne." In a stage whisper, Reynolds said "Try not to make him scream too much, we got to eat dinner in a few and I don't want nobody gettin' upset stomachs."

Womack rolled his eyes; having been on the threatening end before, he wasn't quite worried about this little display. The intent way that the girl was looking at him, though, looking like she saw right through his head, was unsettling.

The merc turned to him, a gleam in his eyes. He produced a huge bowie knife out of literally nowhere; the razor-sharp blade gleamed in the sparse light of the closet.

"Where do ya think I oughta start, Riv? Tendons? Or maybe the ears? I've been wantin' to get me an ear somethin' terrible."

"Disfiguring and crippling, but not painful." she murmured, producing a silvery butterfly knife out of her...uh, somewhere, he wasn't sure where, and began idly flipping it over and around her hand, showing a considerable expertise with the blade.

"I'd try the intradistal phalanges, first, myself. Plenty of pain. Lots of it, actually." Flick, flick, flick went the shining blade in her hand.

"Intra-whatsit?"

"The fingers, ape man." she said with a roll of the eyes to the merc. "Lots of nerves, without the pesky bones and muscle to get in the way. The palm also has a surprising number of nerve centers." The blade in her hand continued to flick, flick, flick.

"Well, yea, I guess. That would show though. Know of any that wouldn't?"

A small grin grew on her face, one that worried Womack more than he'd like to admit. "97, actually. All hidden by clothes." Flick, flick, flick.

"Bull. Not even you could know 'bout 97 different places as would cause pain and not show." Jayne said, clearly not impressed.

Womack listened with growing horror as she began to name them. She had reached #34, by her count, pointing them out with the tip of her blade on his body, before Womack finally yelled "Fine, I'll tell you whatever you want to know!"

"But I've not finished naming pressure points." She continued, getting another 5 out before Womack started shouting wildly for help.

Mal stuck his head in the door, asking "What's going on?"

"He won't let me name any more pressure points for Jayne to hurt, bao bei." the girl pouted.

"Ahh. I'd be mighty perturbed if you went interruptin' my wife anymore, Womack." Mal said, ducking his head back out and moving to close the door.

"Gorramit, let me outta here and I'll tell you anything and everything you wanna know! Just get me outta this damn closet with these feng le! _Rung Tse Song Di Ching Dai Wuo Tzo_!"

"Fine. Let's get him back to the cell; I think 'Nara and Jamie are back to take the confession and the information."

Jayne picked up the man by his arms and hefted him out of the closet. "Still didn' get that damn ear."

"Maybe next time." Mal said, a grin on his face.

"I gotta say, darlin', you can be mighty creepifyin' when you get it in yer head to."

"I thought that was why you married me." she quipped, going up on tip toes to steal a kiss before going to take her seat for dinner; it smelled like Jenny had cooked up a nice stir-fry, and she didn't want to miss out.

* * *

><p>After taking the man's statement and confession, and recording all of the information he had provided into his datapad, Inara and Jamie walked upstairs, to where the others were finishing the evening meal. Jenny had saved aside a couple of portions though, so they dug in as soon as they arrived.<p>

"I gotta tell ya, Riv, that routine just gets better and better. Think it takes less time, too." Jayne said, sipping at his after-dinner coffee.

"I can tell from experience; there is no greater torture than the needles and hot irons of imagination."

Mal felt her mind go to a dark place for a moment, then it surged back into the light as she laid a hand on his knee, steadying herself.

"However ya get 'em to talk, ye're doin' good, bao bei. Conjure we can roll up their entire organization with that huen dahn's story alone. Seems a right shame we gotta let him go to a penal moon fer life, 'steada just spacing him."

"It wouldn't be legal. Have to do things by the book now, ai ren."

"It'd be a damn sight easier on the paperwork though." Mal pouted, with a grin simmering on his face.

"Don't worry. I'm sure there'll be plenty of criminals who won't lay down arms that you'll be able to shoot. Those stun weapons aren't as satisfying as your auto-revolver, but they still result in a man that can confess, rather than a dead, silent corpse."

The others chuckled at the off-color banter, and wandered away to their night's activities. They had to keep two on duty near the brig at all times, while they had prisoners, along with someone in the bridge.

Serenity floated in orbit, waiting for a rendezvous with an Alliance Longbow destroyer for prisoner transfer.

* * *

><p>The Calamity Jane floated in orbit off Three Hills; they'd had a tip, finally, that a small research installation had taken up residence in an abandoned building off the main city of the moon.<p>

Marcus sat on the bridge, working through the information they had been developing; Serenity had uplinked their new information over a secure encrypted link, and Calamity Jane was downloading that information now.

Marcus was amazed at the information that had already been developed; although Lady's Revenge had managed to find some of the actors, it seemed River and Jayne had choked a detailed layout of the illicit-organ organization out of a former Alliance officer named Womack.

He heard the bridge door open, then close, and he smelled the scent of strong tea and the gentle waft of raspberries.

Claudia Braeden sat down at the navigator's station behind the co-pilot seat, and handed Marcus his mug of tea.

"Thank you." he said, sipping at it; perfectly sweetened.

"So how'd Serenity's people do with that first raid?"

"They managed to get information on their entire organization. I'm rather astonished, actually. They picked up a former Alliance officer named Womack, and River and Jayne managed to pry all manner of information out of him. I didn't expect it to take so little time."

"They're good at what they do, I guess." Braeden said, uncertainly; although she knew the others, she didn't know them that well.

"Don't worry. Mal told me that it took them less than 5 minutes, and the man doesn't have a scratch on him. Apparently the two of them have been working out some sort of routine that's quite effective. I doubt it would work for everybody, but with that particular pair, it's very efficient."

"That's good then. Is it really true, what they said about her?"

"It is quite true. She's gone public with her story; didn't you see the coverage on the cortex of the Parliament session?"

"Missed it, I'm afraid. I was on the teams taking down the corrupt officials."

"She is a remarkable young woman. She's somehow managed to carve out a carefully-maintained sanity, from the ashes of a broken mind. She's managed to retain stability longer than I've imagined. I believe her marriage to Reynolds, and her relationship with him, has kept her steady."

"And the thing about her on that moon?"

"That girl killed 47 Reavers by herself with her bare hands, a sword, and an axe, both taken from the Reavers themselves. She's earned her peace and happiness."

"Wow."

Marcus sat silently for a moment, remembering the emotional highs and lows of that day; his satisfaction that Serenity had seemingly stepped into his trap, and his horror at the discovery of the secret of Miranda.

"Hey, you alright?" Claudia had stood up, noticing Marcus' distant expression.

He looked up at her, slight smile on his face. "Yes, I'm fine. Just thinking." She stood up against him, putting a comforting arm around his shoulders, feeling his arm snake around her waist, pulling her closer; in just the few days they'd been out in the Georgia system, the two had gotten very close indeed.

"Hey, Marcus, I-oops, don't mind me." the dark-haired pilot of Calamity Jane stepped onto the bridge, and noticed the pair, blushing slightly. Claudia gently disengaged from Marcus with a wistful smile, and sat back down at the navigator console.

"No problem, Benjamin. How can I help you?"

"I just wanted to check our orbit. I knew you were on duty right now, so I also wanted to run something by you."

"Of course."

"We've managed to pin down the missing cybernetics research lab here, right?"

"Correct. I'm not sure what form this lab takes yet, nor exactly what personnel are here, but we followed the traces here."

"Okay. We've got one lab here. What are the chances they'd have another lab here?"

"Doubtful. They could spread out throughout this system and garner less attention."

"Then let's tap into their interplanetary comms, if we can. See if we can listen in."

"I've already tried. They've covered up quite well."

"Not their old Blue Sun comm channels. Let's tap into their private channels. I have a notion that they're using them rather than the old channels."

"It's worth a try. I'll start taking a look."

"Let me know if you need a hand. Kim's pretty good with the cortex, and I'm no slouch either."

"I will. Thanks for the idea." Marcus said, smiling slightly.

"Okay. Night, folks. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" he hissed gleefully into the bridge, then shut the door behind him.

Marcus rolled his eyes, then glanced at Claudia. They broke out laughing.


	6. Chapter 6

"All aboard the Oraboros, smoothest ride from here to Persephone! Comfortable seating, fine dining, and best entertainment you'll find, all on a fare even a working man can afford!" the barker yelled, on the busy greenery-surrounded passenger docks of Paquin. People looking for passage stopped, interested, read the flimsy listing the fares, then walked up to the ramp of the Oraboros.

The Firefly-class passenger ship stood behind him, shining with a two-tone blue and grey paint job.

* * *

><p>"Welcome aboard the Oraboros. I'm the Chief Purser, you can call me Hwa Lo Se. It looks like your room is Room 12. Anything you need, just ask."<p>

"Thanks, it's good to be aboard. I've always loved Fireflies." the tall, brown-haired man said as he shook the purser's hand sloppily, a dopey grin on his face, probably from a little too much liquor if his breath had anything to say about it. His (wife?) looked up patiently at him, shaking her head slightly at his antics. He looked a little too old for her, but who knew, on these Rim Worlds, Hwa thought.

Two more passengers came up the ramp, small bags slung over their shoulders. The man was tall, thin, and blonde, and nodded politely but didn't say anything. The woman with him was shorter, Latinate in features, a bright smile on her face. "Welcome on board the Oraboros. I'm the Chief Purser, you can call me Hwa Lo Se. Anything you need, just ask me."

"Thanks, we will." she said in a Beaumonde accent.

"You're set for...Room 15. Enjoy."

* * *

><p>Mal and River walked arm in arm to their room, a little, narrow berth with no more than a twin-size bed and a tiny closet.<p>

_I can't believe the prices we paid for this coffin._ Mal groused.

_We're not here for vacation, bao bei._ River's voice tinkled in laughter in his head.

_You got any notion of which berths we need to check?_

_Too many minds right now. Once we get into the Black, it should be easier. I'll start working on it before dinner._

_Probably won't be any better than a meal we'd get on Serenity. I've almost forgotten what that flavored protein crap tastes like._

_All for a greater cause, bao bei._

* * *

><p>Mal got their small bags settled as the ship departed and broke atmo, and the two decided to explore the passenger sections; they were similar to Serenity, but a little more kept-up than she had been in the old days. The furniture was matching, the floors were covered in comfortable rugs.<p>

River began searching the crew's minds, while Mal used his growing abilities to help keep River stable while she peered deep into the psyches of strangers. It was a situation that had worked well in the past; River was more experienced in reading the thoughts of others now, but Mal could maintain better control; he'd discovered a few tricks that helped steady River during their courtship and relationship.

_Room 20 and 18. The "purser" is thinking about them, hoping they won't cause trouble._

_Let's wander by and take a feel._

She nodded. They walked by the rooms at the end of the passenger hall, buried under the engine core of the Oraboros. They made a quick examination of the doors when noone else was in the hall; the doors were locked with an electronic combination lock, hidden by a sliding panel. Not very subtle, but good enough to fool the average passenger. Behind the doors, River could feel the minds of two people; they were slumbering very deeply, brains barely active at all; probably an induced coma.

Mal whispered into the mike hidden at his shirt cuff; the high-quality transmitter hidden in his shirt was of considerable power, and included a long, coiled antenna on his back.

"Grandma's House, this is Papa Bear. Come in."

"_Papa Bear, hear you loud and clear."_ Zoe's voice came back in his ear, in the tiny temporary cochlear implant Simon had installed the previous day.

"We've got two lost children here, probably induced comas."

"_Papa Bear, this is Healing Hands. What is used to induce the comas?"_

"Unknown, haven't got through the door yet. Want Grandma's House to attach before we do."

"_Roger that, Papa Bear. Beginning approach now."_

"Healing Hands, best get on back to the passenger areas. Need ya here soon's these doors open; Goldilocks, feel up to havin' a word with the pilot?"

"_On it."_ the tall man whispered.

* * *

><p>The pilot of Oraboros, a woman named Cori Stowe, was just making a check of the onboard systems when the call came in.<p>

"_Passenger Liner Oraboros, you are ordered to stand to and prepare for boarding. Prepare to receive boarding party from Marshal Transport Serenity."_

At the same moment, the bridge door opened; a tall, blonde man stepped on board, with icy eyes and a blank face.

"Stand to now. Follow the lady's orders."

Stowe had dealt with belligerent passengers before; this was new though, as the blonde man produced a Marshal's badge and drew a strange-looking gun.

Stowe only nodded as she cut power, bringing Oraboros to a drift.

The captain, Jacquelyn Armitage, stormed onto the bridge a moment later; her eyes widened at the electrical gun and badge displayed by Jo Stephens.

"Special Agent Stephens. This boat is to be inspected."

Stowe reached up for the PA mike, until the gun in Stephens' hand turned and set steadily on her.

"Wouldn't do that."

"_Oraboros, this is Marshal Transport Serenity. Open your main airlock doors as soon as we have a firm seal."_

"Roger that, Serenity. Heaving to now." Stowe said over the ship-to-ship.

Stephens motioned with the stun gun in his hands, and the two women preceded him in the hall, proceding towards the air lock in the main passenger deck. When they reached the main airlock, the seal indicator was solid green; Armitage opened the heavy lock door under the watchful eyes of Stephens, and was met by guns up and locked in the hands of Zoe Washburne, Jamie Monroe, Jayne Cobb, and Inara Serra.

"Federal Marshals. This is a search and arrest warrant for illegally held human cargo."

Jayne and Zoe went on into the ship, to gather the other crew, while Jamie and Inara stayed to cover the pilot and captain.

* * *

><p>River was actively working on the combination lock, hacking past the cryptography on the locking system and backwashing the code into a portable reader. Suddenly, she got a flash of dark intent.<p>

_Someone coming._

_Right._ Mal thought, drawing the automatic hidden at his boot and waiting for whoever was coming. He'd felt the flash of intent too, knew someone was coming. _This Reading thing is getting to be right handy._

_Don't come to rely on it, bao bei. Always use your eyes first._

Maggie Mendez looked between the two, wondering at the looks they had shared; although the crew of Serenity was generally aware of Mal and River's connection, the word hadn't spread to the other crews, and she was champing at the bit to find out what was going on.

"Worry about the people in here. We'll explain later." River said out of the corner of her mouth, as she tapped in the electronic code on the doors.

Mal was watching up the hall as the "purser" came running down, gun in hand.

"Freeze and drop your piece! Federal Marshals!" Mal yelled, taking aim and holding his badge with the other hand.

The purser began to lift his hand to aim, and Mal fired.

The electrical round was slower than a normal gun round, but made up for it in stopping power. It blew off a sabot cover as it flew and stuck in the skin of Hwa Lo Se's chest using two pronged darts, arcing to make electrical contact with the man, then setting into a lower, continuous cycle that locked all of the man's muscles tight, leaving him unable to move or act.

His finger tightened around the trigger with the electrical impulse, and a single shot rang out.

* * *

><p>The instant Mal had fired his shot, River shot out two hands and pulled Mendez and Mal against the wall. The momentum carried her away from the wall, and the bullet from the purser's shot grazed her shoulders, but otherwise winged down the hall, caroming and striking the wall.<p>

Mal ran to the downed man, kicking the gun out of his grip, and pulling the electrical round off roughly, tearing a bit of skin as he did so. Mal didn't care though; he was seething with the flash of pain he had felt from River. She was fine, he knew, but he didn't care at this point.

He roughly cuffed the man, more roughly than needed, then bound him by law and read his rights.

River and Mendez went into the now opened rooms, and began checking the comatose people; they were hooked up to IV's, and Mendez quickly identified the drugs being administered to them; they were a common surgical anesthesia, which could be used for long-term induction of coma. She quickly prepped a hypospray of a countering drug, and administered it.

As the two awoke, a man and a woman, River began feeling their minds come around; they were confused and frightened, not knowing who was looking at them.

"Maggie, show your badge." River ordered, and showed her own to the man, who had shown signs of increasing panic at the stranger over him.

"You're safe. We're Federal Marshals. We'll get you out of here. You were brought here against your will?"

"Y-yes...w-we were taken by s-s-slavers-s." the man jittered; frightened as hell.

"We'll get you back home again." She pulled out her small comm. "Zoe, how are we looking?"

"_We've got all of the crew gathered up, should be safe to board."_

"Simon, we need you in the passenger section with two stretchers."

"_Understood, River. On the way."_

* * *

><p>The Arrowhead class courier Phoenix landed at the docks at Faraday, having been notified by secure cortex transmission to meet for a "special courier job".<p>

They handled one of these jobs about every two weeks or so; they were good money. The business partners didn't really care where their cargo was going, nor were they paid to.

Bill Hardy recognized Fendris, one of Womack's men, as he walked with what looked like new muscle, pushing along two vacant-looking girls; one brunette, the other strawberry blonde. _Probably strung out on drops_, he decided. Drops destroyed the mind but left the organs untouched, which made them ideal for this sort of endeavor.

"Fendris. Good to see you again."

"Likewise. Here's the new cargo. And this is my new partner. Womack decided to start increasing our presence a bit, got more area to cover." Hardy noticed that Fendris looked nervous; couldn't tell why though. He looked around, but didn't see a lick of police presence today.

Hardy looked over the shorter man accompanying Fendris; he was a scruffy, twitchy little man, probably a career criminal, according to Hardy's discerning eye.

"Alright, bring 'em on board. Put 'em in the rooms, already got 'em set up."

* * *

><p>As soon as Badger saw the chains in the rooms, he knew they had the right ship.<p>

He drew his weapon, and the two girls pulled theirs from hidden holsters under their dresses.

"Federal Marshals, you're bound by law for conspiracy and transportation of illegal cargo, and slavery."

Fendris was further into the room, behind Badger, and Jenny had him covered, while Badger and Petaline cuffed the two men, named Bill Hardy and Qin Shen.

"Jim, we're all clear here."

"Roger that. We're sending our mule over now."

Jim Raven and Tom Marvela appeared, riding on the long flatbed ground car they used as a mule; it had seating for 4, and a bed with up to 2 tons of capacity.

Raven and Badger remained on board the Phoenix to fly it, while Marvela and the girls returned to Lady's Revenge with their two prisoners and Fendris.

A few minutes later, after some ship-to-ship between the courier and Lady's Revenge, they took off, setting a course 2 days back to Silverhold for a rendezvous with the Longbow-class Destroyer Kendall, where they'd been keeping the gut-runners they'd been arresting on ice. They would meet with the passenger liner Oraboros and Serenity there; Raven had just spoken with Mal, and heard of the success of their other sting operation.

Raven had also heard from the special Marshal ship teams that had joined them out here; they had taken the Viking and Kenworth by surprise in deep space, finding unwilling passengers aboard both.

Almost all of the support of the gut-runner's organization had been pulled out from under them; other Marshal teams had simultaneously freed the slaves that were being kept on ice on moons like Beggar's Tin, Faraday, and Spider off of Anson's World, and the larger planets of Greenleaf and Paquin.

In just over 4 days, almost the entire transfer and enforcement arm of the organ ring in the Red Sun system had been dismantled, without a peep to the rest of the organization.

* * *

><p>Once they had assembled the crew off the Oraboros near the airlock, River appeared; Mal saw, just for a moment, what River must see all of the time; there were little wisps of smoke, of purple tendrils that reached to each person, surrounding their heads in a corona of eerie light. Then he shook his head clear, and began working to stabilize River while she Read.<p>

She pointed at several of them; the Captain, the "purser" Hwa Lo Se, the Engineer...and the cook. They immediately bound them by law and moved them off of the ship, and Mal turned to the others.

"Your fellow crew have just been bound by law for the transporting of slaves and conspiracy to commit illegal organ theft and murder. You're still here because we are reasonably sure you had nothing to do with their little sideline on the Oraboros. We'll be putting several of our agents aboard for your run to Silverhold to discharge your passengers. Their fares will be returned due to the inconvenience of this boarding. Then, you'll be debriefed in depth by our agents to reckon whether you all had anything to do with this. Deal in good faith, do your jobs, and tell the truth, and you'll likely be free to find new employment once the Oraboros is impounded. Prove useful in some way, and you might even get some help getting new work."

Mal turned to the others. "Jo, Jayne, get yer stuff together and get on board. We'll need you to ferry this boat to Silverhold."

The men nodded, and went back through the airlock to gather their gear.

Maggie and Simon, along with River, rolled past through the airlock with two people on stretchers; they seemed aware enough, Mal noted. They weren't comatose anymore, but they still felt frightened and scared; he could see their minds rattling against the walls of their bodies, spinning and fretting.

"Ya'll are gonna be safe on board my boat." Mal said quietly as they came near. River stopped close to Mal, and smiled up at him. She took his hand for a moment, then followed Simon.

Once everyone else from his crew had gotten off, and Jo and Jayne were back on, they closed up the airlocks and parted the ships. The Oraboros slowly realigned herself on their course and jetted off on a partial burn, Serenity following closely.

* * *

><p>Maggie Mendez and Inara were getting their guests settled in guest dorms, making sure that they were feeling okay before they let them get some sleep. Jamie was keeping a watch on their other guests; the four arrested people in their brig cell. They were cuffed loosely, so that they wouldn't be going anywhere, but also to maintain circulation in their hands.<p>

Mal and River went to the Infirmary, with Simon following to treat River's grazes. The bullet had skimmed off some skin and muscle from her shoulders, and although they weren't serious, they had to be treated.

River skinned off her tunic and lay facedown on the infirmary table, and Simon began to treat the graze wounds.

"Bao bei, I don't want you going in the field anymore." Mal said softly, crouching to look at her face.

"WHAT?" River squawked, and nearly jumped off the table before Simon held her down by the shoulder blades.

"Captain, you two aren't going to fight in front of me while I'm fixing her up. Argue silently if you have to."

_"_Fine._"_

_Bao bei, you coulda been hurt bad today. Couple inches in a different direction, and I'd be mournin' ya._

River shut her eyes, then looked at him again with those liquid brown pools. _If I hadn't, I'd be mourning both you and Maggie._

_What?_

_The bullet would have gone through your heart and Maggie's head._

_You know that for certain?_ he asked, knowing the answer. She was never uncertain, except about a very few things.

_I do. I couldn't let you be hurt, so I chose the lesser evil._

_You know I'm glad you pulled us outta the way. It's just...I can't lose you, bao bei. I can't be worryin' on you whenever you go on a job, either sting operations with the whole team or when you're doin' yer slave act with Badger and the ladies. I can't be distracted by that._

_Mal, you may not like that I'm putting myself in danger, but I do it because it's **my** choice. I don't order you not to get shot; yet you seem to try to do that with alarming regularity. It stops my heart whenever you do._

_Bao bei, I'm yer commander here. I don't want ya in the line of fire no more._ Mal's face darkened.

_Listen to me. If we were still criminals, we'd be doing work much more dangerous, with the Blue Hands still following after me, with the Alliance still after us. Always running, always tired. We would have faced the danger out of necessity, not by choice. The reason I do this job is not because we need to do it to survive; I could probably find very lucrative employment in a dozen different fields._

_No, bao bei. The reason I do this is because it's important. It's the right thing to do, it helps folks, and it makes the 'Verse safer for everyone else. I'm willing to take the risks to myself for that._

_Besides, I don't face the danger alone. We work and fight together. We stay together. We trust our family to protect each other in dangers. That way we don't **have** to face danger alone._ Her face was serene now, content.

_If it was possible, I'd love ya more now than ever before, 'Tross._ He closed in, and gently kissed her, just a swift press of the lips.

"I can't be seeing that!" Simon said, half-mockingly.

"Then don't be lookin', Doc. 'Sides, we're married now, 'case you didn't notice."

"I remember quite well. I just don't need to see that while I'm working." River giggled at her prudish brother's discomfiture.

"I'll be on the bridge. Go get some sleep when yer brother's finished with ya, darlin'. You'll need it after a wounding."

She nodded, and shut her eyes, waiting for Simon to be done. Even now, with the threat of the Academy gone, she was not fond of the needles; it always took an effort of will to shunt her fear away into the locked compartments of her mind.

* * *

><p>Simon worked with one eye on his target area as he worked on the graze across her shoulders; it was somewhat bloody, but not serious. It just needed a few stitches and a weave to close it up, with some newskin across the open laceration to quicken the healing.<p>

His other eye was occupied watching the silent conversation between Mal and River. Simon was the only person on the boat who knew just how far Mal's growing abilities extended (although the others knew Mal and River had some undefined connection, and had a sense that Mal could pick up on their troubles and thoughts far more easily, they didn't know of his newfound ability to Read and project).

He'd done extensive neurological scans on both of them once they'd begun discovering his talent, and Simon was impressed at the activity he'd seen. The two of them had already been able to speak between themselves before Mal's talent had been activated; it had been the long-distance connection they'd managed over Persephone, when Jamie and River had been kidnapped, that had triggered it.

For a moment, Simon was jealous of their connection; a way to see into the heart and mind of one's lover that simply could not happen between him and Kaylee. He desired such a connection, such a sense of communion.

He watched as their faces changed expressions, from stormy to worried to smug to serene, as they spoke from mind to mind; it was faster than normal speech, but not instantaneous as he might have guessed.

Finally Mal smiled and kissed River.

"I can't be seeing that!" he squawked, only half-jokingly.

"Then don't be lookin', Doc. 'Sides, we're married now, 'case you didn't notice."

"I remember quite well. I just don't need to see that while I'm working." River giggled.

"I'll be on the bridge. Go get some sleep when yer brother's finished with ya, darlin'. You'll need it after a wounding."

Simon saw River will herself to relax while he continued stitching and binding her grazes.

"It's not always a positive thing, ghuh ghuh."

"What?"

"The connection we have. It's very intense at times. When we're doing something you don't want to hear about, or having a quiet conversation, or teasing each other when we're in no position to respond physically, it's enjoyable. But when we fight, it's painful. I feel every pain he has, every bit of self-doubt and remorse and guilt. It's not easy to filter, even now."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I just wish..."

"That you and Kaylee had that connection. As far as I can tell, you already do. You know when she's angry with you, know when she's in pain. You can convey your thoughts easily enough to each other without any sort of mental connection, just by knowing each other."

He smiled, and finished up the last weave, then put simple gauze bandages over to prevent blood seepage, and administering a mild pain suppressant. "I suppose you're right. I never really thought of it that way."

"I know. You don't need to worry on it though."

"Okay. You heard what he said. Get some rest. You'll need it."

"Okay, ghuh ghuh." she said, putting on the damaged shirt she'd been wearing, then hugging him tightly. He returned the hug, avoiding the wounds on her shoulders, suddenly filled with joy that she'd found peace of a sort.


	7. Chapter 7

Merit Anneliese looked up from her Chief Floor Nurse post at the Brising Amen City Delphine Emergency Surgery. It was a local hospital, catering to all of the local folk, with only a little Alliance support. The fees were reasonable, the doctors professional and courteous, and the nurses kind.

Of course, there was a dark side to this business, she knew. She was one of three nurses in the company that owned the surgery that knew of the 3 surgical suites that existed on no floor plan or government list. She wasn't quite sure what happened there, had never been told, but she figured it wasn't exactly repairing the average injuries incurred by farmers and merchants.

She checked her planned operation list for the day; two appendectomies (for some reason, the terraforming on Brising Amen had left a susceptibility to appendicitis as a genetic condition, and appendectomies were common), 2 tonsil removals, and one double bypass surgery were scheduled. Of course, the Delphine Emergency Surgery received numerous cases of emergency operations; the place was a favorite of various underworld and illegitimate businessmen, and they often brought their wound cases in here to be handled cleanly and quietly.

She looked up and saw the first case of the day. A tall man wearing a long brown coat (those weren't very rare around here; a fair proportion of the illicit surgeries that the surgery handled were for old browncoats, especially those that flew in old, beat up spaceships), a darker-skinned woman wearing a leather vest, and a little slip of a brown-haired girl were wheeling in a big man on a gurney; a bloodstained shirt was held over what she presumed was a gunshot injury.

"Heard tell this place might be able to help us." the tall man said.

"Well, normally we don't take in cases off the street, but we might be able to assist you. Accidental wounding, sir?" the nurse said smoothly. She had her finger over an alarm button, just in case there was trouble.

"Yes ma'am, bystanders at a gun fight." the tall man deftly lied. Merit smiled, and took her finger off the button.

"We'll do everything we can to help him out." she said, pressing the call button for the orderlies to take him straight off to Surgery 1. She heard a slight crackling sound, but disregarded it as a problem with the comm system. She'd check it after she'd checked them in. She took some forms and put them up on the counter, missing an exchange of glances between the girl and the tall brown-coated man; she was surprised, then, when the tall man's iron-hard hands looped around her wrists and pulled her halfway across the counter, away from the alarm button.

"You're bound by law, on suspicion of illegal slave and organ trafficking." he said harshly, pulling cuffs out of his pocket and cuffing her, then dragging her away from the comm panel, holding up an arrest warrant for the facility. The two orderlies that had arrived found themselves staring at guns held in the hands of three of them, including the big man on the table. He levered himself easily up and cast aside the bloodied shirt; he wasn't injured at all. The two orderlies found themselves cuffed in short order, then the tall man held his wrist up to his mouth. "Team two, you have a go. Team three, come in behind us and begin securing the prisoners."

A short, busty brunette, a tall lady with mocha-colored hair, and a tall thin man with black hair and goatee came in directly, with stun weapons and more cuffs.

* * *

><p>Jim Raven, Jo Stephens, Al Remshaw, and Ken Baldwin were at the rear door of the facility. It was access-controlled, but that locking mechanism wasn't anything that could stop Al Remshaw. Baldwin just shook his head as the normally jittery mechanic smoothly penetrated the encryption and popped the lock without effort, without a tremble of the hands.<p>

"You'd better not tell me how you learned to do that." Baldwin muttered.

Remshaw just grinned. "Couldn't say. Just figured out how this very day." Raven and the others snickered at Baldwin's discomfort.

Baldwin rolled his eyes, then got ready to cover their entry into the building.

* * *

><p>Mal, Jayne, Zoe, and River proceeded smoothly down the hallways; several nurses and surgeons were detained for questioning and sent to the front office, or bound by law and cuffed, depending on River and Mal's gleaning, then the four continued again, moving with military precision.<p>

They passed three exam rooms and two surgery suites, and hit a dead-end; River pointed to a janitor's closet though (the door was too wide for a janitor closet), and instead of finding a collection of mops and buckets, they found a clean, empty elevator big enough for a surgical team and a gurney.

They entered and pushed the button on the panel that pointed downward. After a few moments, the door opened. River was first to peek out, carefully feeling for minds before she checked both ways. The aisle was clear for the moment.

Pointing to the left was a sign marked "Surgeries." River led them rightwards first. Jayne kept watch on the aisle behind them, while the other three began checking doors.

One door was an office, with what Mal assumed to be important flimsies and records that they'd be confiscating. Another was a drug supply closet; River quickly scanned some of the drug names and recognized a few from her gleanings of Simon's mind.

"Surgical prep drugs. Anti-rejection drugs. Surgical anesthetics. It's adding up, Mal." she whispered.

The next two doors were locked from the outside with electronic combination locks. River blew past the encryptions, and opened both doors; a call to Jamie before she opened the doors silenced the alarms before they could go off.

Mal and River had some idea of what they would find in the two rooms, but Jayne and Zoe were fairly floored; there was a red-headed woman on one bed, strapped down and heavily sedated. The other room held a boy, about 3 years old, with black hair. Zoe's face hardened at the _outrage_ of using children for illicit transplants, while Jayne's face turned stony and cold, fury boiling beneath.

Mal was suddenly caught in an avalanche, a tidal wave of swirling emotions from River's mind; he struggled to contain it, to keep it from overwhelming them both, dragging them under. Finally, with considerable difficulty, he had both of them clear-headed enough to operate; both of them were paler from the concerted effort used.

"Pull the IV's for now, don't know what's goin' into 'em. We'll have to get the docs in here to take care of them." Mal ordered coldly, then they turned towards the surgeries; Jayne took rear guard at these doors, to make sure _nobody_ touched the victims until the doctors arrived.

* * *

><p>They peeked into the other doors; three surgical suites. Two of the suites had nurses and doctors prepping, while the other was dark and silent. They were joined in less than a minute by Jim Raven's team, which had entered from the lower entrance.<p>

"Jamie, lock down their wave systems and kill their computers."

"On it." the whisper came back from his earwig.

They saw as the computer monitors went down, and only then opened the doors to the first surgical suite.

"You are all bound by law for illicit organ trafficking and implantation, and anything else I can think of!" Mal said wrathfully; the nurses and doctors in the adjoining surgical suites paled at the weapons held steadily in the hands of these cold-faced agents.

* * *

><p>The Delphine surgery was shut down for the moment, its in-patients being taken care of by nurses recruited from other facilities and being paid double-time for their assistance while the others were detained and awaiting questioning.<p>

Inside the shuttered building, the two teams of Marshals were now sifting through evidence and downloading computer systems to portable drives. Jamie and Baldwin had been peripherally acquainted during Monroe's time with the Marshals previously, and were working together to gather all of the digital evidence, inserting backstops and shunts into the communications systems so any communications would appear to go through as normal. Cortex operators (from Jamie's old unit) would be covering that, making sure that the other sections of this organ ring didn't become aware.

Mal had taken River back to Serenity, and they were closeted in their bunk at the moment, trying to rebuild River's (and Mal's) balance and mental defenses. Zoe and Raven had taken over the crime scene for the moment.

* * *

><p>"Simon, they're waking up."<p>

"Good. Hopefully we can find out who they are; the DNA checker is taking too long." They'd found medical histories attached to the beds, but no names. The DNA analysis system operated over the Cortex, and they were rather distant from the facilities on Osiris that housed the main information databases.

The child woke first, because of his faster metabolism and heartrate; he screamed in terror as he looked up at the man and woman dressed in scrubs.

"It's alright, little fella. My name is Maggie, and this is Simon. We're Federal Marshals, and we're here to help you." Maggie soothed, showing the boy her shiny badge. "What's your name?"

"'m Brian." the boy whimpered into his shoulder, hiding his face.

"Well, Brian, we just want to make sure you're alright, then we'll try to get you back with your family."

"Kay." he snuffled.

"'Nara, can you meet us down here? The little boy just woke up."

"Be right down."

* * *

><p>"Mr. Chan."<p>

"What have you found?"

"A growing string of slave markets have been shut down, including the markets that supply our test subjects. We have also received word through corroborating sources that the Zhu Que syndicate's chief enforcer is currently being held incommunicado by Federal Marshals."

"Womack. That Yi Dwei Da Buen Chuo Roh."

"We also have a name of an arresting agent from our sources."

"_No._"

"Yes. Reynolds."

"G'en Ho Tze Bi Dio Se."

"We are issuing warnings to all of the remaining Zhu Que organization's elements."

"Good idea. Find out what's happening. We need to end this _now._"

* * *

><p>The red-haired woman had just awakened when Inara reached the lower level.<p>

"Well, hello." Inara smiled at the little boy, dark-haired and green-eyed.

"Hi." the boy said shyly, slowly recovering, gaining some semblance of courage. He was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I've checked him over, and he seems to be fine. I've drawn some blood to test it, but the results won't come back for a while, cortex transmission speeds being what they are. Can you take him someplace else? Serenity, the upper office, somewhere? We've got to treat this woman." Simon said quickly, then turned back towards the other room where Maggie was speaking softly with the stuporous woman on the bed there. Simon pulled a blood draw kit and took a tube, putting it into an automatic analyzer.

"Of course. Come on, sweetie. Let's go see Serenity." Inara reached down for his hand, but the boy reached both arms upwards, obviously wanting to be picked up.

"Okay." Inara said, bending down. "Oof, you're heavy."

"Mama sometimes said that."

"And where is your mama?"

The boy's eyes darkened, and she saw the partially-healed grief in them, as well as the sting of mortality understood too soon. "She died."

"I'm so sorry, sweetie." Inara said, feeling her heart break for the child, as they rode the elevator up. "Do you know where your daddy is?"

"Never met him." the boy said dejectedly. "Only had my mama."

Inara hugged the boy a little tighter, and felt hot tears on her neck as he nuzzled into it.

As she walked out of the surgery's main office, she saw Jamie look up as she passed; he smirked at the boy in her arms, and turned his attention back to what he was doing. She rolled her eyes in return.

* * *

><p>"Well, hi there!" Kaylee gushed at the boy Inara held. "I'm Kaylee. What's your name?"<p>

The boy's face brightened at Kaylee's eternal optimism. "'m Brian." he said, solemnly shaking her hand.

Kaylee had been forewarned about the boy, and didn't mention parents. "Would you like something to eat? My sister Jenny is a great cook."

"'m hungry." he said, brightening further at the prospect of food.

"Let's go find something, shall we?" Inara said, still carrying the boy as they headed into the galley. Kaylee smiled at the natural look of the child in Inara's arms, and followed.

"Kaylee, do you think we have any clothes in storage for him? Maybe in the stores the Marshals gave us for these situations?"

"I'll go take a look. You're what, 3 or 4?"

"'m three."

"Okay, sweetie. I'll find ya somethin' to wear." Kaylee bounced off. Inara thought she looked even more happy than usual, had a certain glow..._no, she couldn't be_. She wondered about that as she walked up to the galley.

"She's nice. She glows." the boy said, a knowing look in his eyes, more knowing than a three-year-old should have mastered.

"What do you mean?" Inara said, smiling indulgently at the boy as she sat him down at one of the chairs.

"It was on her face. She was all shiny, enough for two." Inara controlled her own face with her Companion training, but a thrill and a chill shot through her. Was this child like River? He seemed smart enough, and he seemed to see deeper into a total stranger than could be warranted.

Jenny walked over from the stove, where she'd been preparing some sandwiches for the crew. They'd be back soon enough, and although she couldn't keep food hot for them, she could at least put something together for them to have when they got back.

"Hi there, sweetie. I'm Jenny. Are you hungry?"

"Yup!" the boy said, beaming now. Inara marveled at the strength of the boy, at his resilience to changing situations. Most kids in this situation would be incoherent, maybe even catatonic.

"Well, I've got beef and turkey here. Which do you prefer?"

"Either is good." he said, smiling even wider.

"How about we go with half of one and half of the other?"

"Okay!" Jenny cut the sandwiches in half, and put half of each on a plate. She poured him some juice out of the cooler, and sat down opposite while he devoured the food. "So what's your name, short stuff?"

"'m Brian." he murmured around a mouthful of food.

"And where are you from?" she asked carefully, eyes on Inara. She nodded slightly as she sat next to the boy, approving of the gentle questioning.

"'m from Ar'el."

"Really? That's Yeh Lu Jwo Duo Luh Jwohn Whei Jian Guay! Jamie, one of our crew, is from Ariel."

The boy smiled, too busy eating to answer.

* * *

><p>Simon heard the beep from the automated dna tracer. Maggie had cajoled the redheaded woman, a Cynthia Bartole, into a wheelchair, and wheeled her up in the elevator; Simon was cleaning up the gear and getting ready to head back to Serenity.<p>

He picked up the Biomed Industries CX-23 automated blood identifier/tracer/analyzer and checked the analyzer section first; the boy's blood had trace quantities of the surgical prep meds he'd expected, and the sedative he knew was being given to him, but nothing else. The DNA analysis did have some unusual traits...The identifier gave his name as Brian Faulkin. The legal guardian listed on the tracer was listed as Mari Faulkin; deceased, 29, born on Ariel. The boy had gone into foster care after the death of his mother 8 months ago. And the dna match on the father was...

_Wo De Tian A!_


	8. Chapter 8

Jamie walked up the ramp to Serenity, returning from the surgery with his datapad and a drive full of information. He was excited, more excited than he'd been in a long time; the take from this sting could bring down the whole gorram organ ring!

_I forgot what kind of fun this was; the whole taking down criminal scum vibe. Helping folks instead of stealing or selling information._

He walked into the galley, and smiled as he saw Inara; she was sitting with the boy they'd rescued. She'd dug into her old inks and brushes and was teaching him how to write calligraphy. He looked like he'd changed and probably eaten; the boy looked much happier.

Inara looked up and smiled. "Hi, bao bei."

"Hey, ai ren." he said, and kissed the top of her head. "Who's the budding artist?"

"'m Brian." the boy said, distractedly greeting him, his focus to the character he'd been writing.

"I'm Jamie."

"Jenny said you were from Ar'el, like me!" he said now, more excited.

"That's right, I was born there. Where did you live?"

"Ar'el City. With my mama."

Jamie caught his tongue just in time, as Inara shot him a look that said _shut up._

"Ariel City is real nice...how old are you?" Jamie asked.

"'m three." Brian said, holding up three fingers, then trying to match the strokes Inara had used with her first drawn character.

"Hey, you're pretty good at that." Jamie said. "Looks just like 'Nara's."

"He is very good at it. He's got natural talent."

"Nat'ral tal'nt." the boy repeated, not taking his eyes off the paper.

"_Jamie, can you meet me in the bay?"_

"Sure, Simon. Meet you in 2." Jamie said into his wrist comm.

"Everything alright?" Inara said, looking up curiously.

"Probably wants to cross check the info I found with what they found downstairs."

"Hmm." she murmured noncommitally. He frowned, trying to read her face; she was keeping it impassive though, and wouldn't let it falter.

* * *

><p>"What's up, Simon?"<p>

"I got the information back on the boy we just rescued."

Maggie Mendez walked past rolling a redheaded woman in a wheelchair. Petaline trailed behind with a satchel full of paperwork, and Maggie's doctor bag over the other shoulder. Simon grabbed Jamie's arm and pulled him towards the sleeping quarters.

"Maybe we should talk in your room."

"Uh, sorry, doc. I'm already taken."

Simon shot him a glare, and shook his head exasperatedly. Jamie closed the door behind him.

"Okay, we're here. What's so damn important?"

"I checked the ID on the boy. His mother was named Mari Faulkin."

"Was named. You mean she's dead?" _Damnit, that name sounds familiar._

"It seems so. He was in the foster system for about 8 months. I'm still not sure how he ended up in the middle of an organ transplant ring. I imagine Internal Affairs is going to be having a field day with this information; it looks like somebody in the Foster care system is dirty."

"That's terrible, doc. But what does it have to do with me?"

"It's about his father."

* * *

><p><em>What happened?<em>, Inara thought. _Jamie looks like he's see a ghost._

River came in from the other doorway, from their bunk, Mal not far behind. Both looked a bit pale as well; their faces were tense.

"'Nara, you got a minute?"

"Sure, honey. Brian, why don't you show Miss River and Captain Mal what you can do with those inks?"

"'Kay." the boy said, turning to greet the newcomers.

Jamie took Inara by the arm and pulled her away, more fiercely than he had in a long time.

"Jamie, Tian Shia..."

"'Nara...that kid in there is mine."

"What?"

"I...Simon just told me. He's genetically my kid. After he told me the name of his mother...well, I remember her now.

"It was about 4 years ago. I had just been chosen to join the Operative program, and I'd been promoted. I went out to celebrate with my buddies from the CID. I met a girl at the bar. Her name was Mari. She was dark-haired, beautiful...she was an artist. Neither of us was looking for anything specific, but we enjoyed ourselves." He could see her face like it was yesterday, although the alcohol and bar lighting blurred the image.

Inara watched curiously, wondering at the man's control once again. If he had any feelings about it, he wasn't showing them yet, although the stuttering told its own tale.

"I...I never talked to her again. I never knew she had a kid, didn't think we would. I guess I just...didn't think about it."

"Honey...did you think I'd be mad?"

"I...I don't know. I wasn't sure."

"Honey, you know we can't have one on our own. This may be a gift from Buddha...something we should be happy about." She smiled up at him now, and he saw the acceptance in her face.

"Okay. I guess...we should tell Mal. Not like he won't-"

"What?"

Jamie sighed. "I shouldn't have said anything. Mal's got a developing talent like River's."

"Shuh ma?"

"They haven't talked about it yet, because they're not sure what extent it has."

"Wow. But that can wait. It looks like you're a daddy." she said, a slight grin on her face.

"Well, that makes you mamma." he said, a grin growing on his face.

"We should tell Mal anyways. It's only fair."

"Yea."

* * *

><p>River was showing Brian how to write another character when she suddenly went unfocused; Mal stiffened next to her, where he had been smiling at the boy's talent with the brush. He put his face into his hand, and sighed.<p>

Jenny and Kaylee saw them react strangely, then saw Jamie and Inara come walking back in.

"Mal...I have a...sort of announcement."

"I think I can guess what it is."

"I'd say you probably could. All the same, I think everyone deserves to know. Might as well get everybody back from the surgery, if we're all done over there."

"Yea, sounds like a plan."

Kaylee looked at the four of them; there was some tension in the air that she wasn't sure of. She frowned, but forced herself to patience. Simon had come up the stairs too, after checking on his other patient, and joined her. _I need to tell him soon. O'course, he might know already. Still..._ Simon gave her a tight hug, probably fuelled by the things he'd seen today; she understood the need for comfort after seeing things like that. She was thankful that she only rarely had to leave Serenity to take care of things like that.

* * *

><p>Once the special Marshal clean-up teams had arrived and taken the detained prisoners for questioning, and taken over supervision of the confiscated facility, the crews of Serenity and Lady's Revenge were back on their ships, setting up for their next raid, on the Colm McLaren Clinic on Anson's World. They had a new team of the unit coming online for these raids, led by a former browncoat named Peter Talmudge, on board a war surplus Alliance Patrol Boat called the Bu Kuh Nuhn (Talmudge had previously run a private security company called TalSec, which had handled security for high-profile clients in the rim and border worlds after the war); they would be hitting one of the other surgeries that had been identified by Raven's crew previously, on Jubilee.<p>

Everyone had gathered in the galley, except for their rescued passenger, Cynthia Bartole, who was resting in the dorms.

Jamie stood behind the boy, one hand on his shoulder. Brian was sitting at the table again, wondering at the gathering of people...they felt like a family. He hadn't felt like that in a long time.

"Alright, everybody. I've got a bit of an announcement. Simon told me earlier, although I'm surprised some of you didn't notice any resemblance...this boy is my son."

Brian beamed; his new daddy and mamma had taken him aside earlier and explained it to him.

There was a mix of shock and pleasure, although Mal didn't look altogether pleased; Jamie saw his face soften as he looked on.

"That's so shiny!" Kaylee squealed, with similar reactions from Jenny, Petaline, and River; Jayne grinned at Jamie and shook his hand manfully. Wash and Zoe shared a glance and smiled, then mobbed Jamie and Inara in turn. Mal had stood back for a while, watching with concern.

"So what are you planning on doing?" he asked, trying not to sound harsh but knowing it carried in his voice. He saw the boy's face drop, and immediately regretted it.

"Well, Mal, both Inara and I want to stay on board Serenity, and I want to keep Brian close to me. I'm not going to let him live without his daddy anymore, not if I can help it." Mal heard the unspoken challenge and promise in his words; the boy _was_ more important to Jamie than staying.

"Just...we ain't had a little boy on board Serenity yet. Not sure if it's gonna necessarily be safe..."

"It's as safe as I can imagine, Mal. Nowhere safer in the 'Verse than in his home, with family about."

Mal slowly smiled then; he'd been thinking the same thing. "Alright, then. Welcome aboard, short stuff." he said, scruffing the boy's hair as he felt the joy rise in the child; and truth be told, in everybody else.

"There'll haveta be rules, o'course. There're gonna be places and times where you'll need to be quiet or hide, and you'll need to listen to us all if there's danger; and there are sometimes dangerous things all about a boat like this. We haven't exactly chosen the safest life, neither."

"S'okay." the boy said, looking up at Cap'n Mal. "Wa'n't no safer with the other kids at the last place." Mal's heart nearly broke, hearing such words in so world-weary a tone from such a young boy. He crouched down, kneeling at eye level.

"We ain't gonna let nothin' happen to ya, little one. Dohn ma? All of us here look upon the other'n as family, and look after t'other."

Brian nodded now, smile growing on his face.

"We'll need to think of schooling and such; I see you're already a bright boy, but you can never stop learnin'." The boy's face had fallen slightly on hearing that he'd need to still have school, but Mal could see that the boy was also willing to learn.

"Mal, I think with all of the special people on this boat, we can all teach him different things in turn." River said, smiling.

"And Jayne, I don't want to hear that he learned cussin' from you." Mal growled, looking at the former merc. Jayne looked a bit sheepish, but grinned.

"Boat like this, Mally ole boy, you think 'e's gonna hide from't forever?" Badger put in, a grin on his own face.

Zoe and Wash stepped forward; Mal eyed them cautiously, but River could see the grin on his face. "We've got an announcement too, I guess. Good time to clear the air."

"We're pregnant!" Wash said, excitedly.

"Jeez Wash, you're not even showing yet. You might just keep that slender figure." Jayne snarked. He yelped when Jenny smacked his arm.

"Okay, Mr. Pedantic, Zoe's pregnant. I just helped."

There was another round of congratulations.

"Uhh, Captain?" Simon said, stepping forward with Kaylee.

Mal just shook his head. "Let me guess, there'll be a little Tam running around too?"

"Give it about 7 months, and maybe a year after that, and yes. We're pregnant as well!"

"Well then. I guess this is a day for letting out secrets."

River looked up at Mal through her hair, smirking.

"I'm developing a Reading talent, almost same as River."

Everybody went silent at that; except for River, Jamie, Inara, Simon, and Kaylee.

"Sir?" Zoe asked, a bit stunned at the prospect.

"It's genetic, the doc tells me. It seems to've triggered when River and Jamie got kidnapped before the Academy takedown."

"Uh...wow." Wash said, remembering his words those months ago. "I guess you really are turning Reader."

"That I am. You can stop making jokes in your heads about me, I can hear them now."

"Well, except for me. I can keep making all the dirty jokes at your expense that I want." Jamie said, snickering.

The others laughed too, the ice broken.


	9. Chapter 9

Serenity was enroute to Anson's World, with Lady's Revenge in her wake, to take down the Colm McLaren Clinic. The private clinic was far more upscale than the Delphine surgery; it was exclusive and well-funded by very well-to-do folk on this small mining planet.

It was set squarely in the center of the up-scale business center of Anson, the chief city of the aforementioned man's world.

Jamie looked over the plans that they had picked up out of the Alliance Building Registration Bureau files, looking for the entry point to their illicit surgical suites.

It was another late night on Serenity; Jamie had fallen prey to his usual insomnia after the events of the day. It wasn't every day you were told you were a father. He'd stolen silently out of his and Inara's room after running out of sheep to count; normally he could find comfort with Inara, but not tonight.

* * *

><p>Brian awoke with a start; he could feel the vibrations through his bed, and they kept jerking him out of sleep. Finally, the little boy gave up and climbed out of the single bed in the small dorm room, right across from his new mommy and daddy's.<p>

He wasn't used to that yet. Always before he'd just had his mommy, with her short raven black hair and beautiful blue eyes. Mommy was an artist, and painted pretty pictures and posters. She was always busy, Brian knew with uncommon awareness; she had to work hard to support them. She was never too busy for him, though, and was always happy to let him help with her painting. She'd even let him do his own paintings several times, and she'd even managed to sell one of his paintings for him, giving him the money for his very own.

Now she was gone, for almost a year now, and he'd bounced from one orphanage and foster home to another; it seemed there wasn't always a fairy tale ending for someone without parents. Occasionally the other children in the homes and orphanages had been mean, but Brian had always managed to avoid them, just _knowing_ that they weren't kind or friendly.

Then he'd been taken. He knew that lady from the Foster Board hadn't been nice; her greed and cruelty had been written on her face, only noone had listened to him. The faces of the men that had taken him had been greedy and hard too, not caring and kind. They'd stuck him with needles and scanned him with devices, and he'd been afraid at the gleeful malice in their eyes. Then they'd put him to sleep.

When he woke up, he'd been terrified when the dark-haired tall man had approached, dressed like those other terrible men. The shorter woman with him, dark of eyes and hair and skin, had been kind and soft though; he could see her compassion and pity. The tall man wore a good mask, hiding almost everything; he could only see the kindliness.

Then Miss 'Nara had come and carried him away, and he'd seen the unbridled love she was capable of. It had been that which made him cry, as much as the reminder of his mother; Miss 'Nara was different from momma, but she was very nice. Miss Kaylee and Miss Jenny had been like sunshine, brilliant and loving; all kindness and motion. He'd seen the spark in Miss Kaylee's eyes, the one he'd seen in the lady at his first orphanage. She'd been big, and the other kids had said she'd be having a baby soon.

He had been distracted by the food, the clothes, and Miss 'Nara's inks, but when he finally looked at the tall black-haired man's face, he saw something different; he saw a kindred spirit, someone like him, someone who had faced his own path and gone out the other side, finding happiness along the way. Somehow, he wasn't surprised when the man told him he was his daddy. It had fit.

Brian peeked into the room his mommy and daddy shared; he saw his new mommy sprawled across the bed, sleeping fitfully without the studied grace she normally carried, and he didn't want to wake her up. His daddy wasn't there, though; where could he be on this big ship?

Brian remembered the cargo bay, big and cavernous, and remembered that the stairs led to the galley. Maybe his daddy was there?

Nobody. The galley was darkened, everything put away and 'ship-shape', as Cap'n Mal had said. There was a tiny glow from the door at the far end of the corridor, and he clambered up the stairs, peeking around the corner onto the bridge.

There! There was his daddy, sitting up with his reader.

"Daddy?"

* * *

><p>Thrann Eldinn was feared across the Zhu Que system. The long-time business student of Adelai Niska, he had learned from the master; his operations were lean, efficient, and cold. No excessive costs, and no leaks, especially the more illicit enterprises.<p>

So why, now, did all of his operations seem to be going on the fritz? Several of his weekly check-ins were late, including his usual business report from Elias Unger at Bo Kuh Nah Industrial. The Brising Amen Delphine Surgery was also late in responding to a routine 'Wave.

He was stunned, then, when the message came in. The message, to the uninformed, would look like a routine personal communication between Eldinn and his wife, regarding a dinner party. The address was slightly off, though. The message header was innocuous, and the content preset, although the dates were accurate.

_The operation is blown. Destroy your files and return to Ezra immediately._

Picking up his voice 'wave handset, he dialed an address and made a call. He summoned a car, and informed his wife that he'd be going on an unexpected business trip, and that he'd call her as soon as he could. He deleted his computer files thoroughly.

Dressing in nondescript clothes, packing a rough duffel with gear, and taking the hired car to the main docks on Greenleaf, he cast about for a suitable transport.

_There. That should be perfect._

The ship was bound for the Georgia system, to Regina. It was only a hop from there for Mr. Niska's men to pick him up.

"Hello. I understand you're taking on passengers to Regina? I've plenty of coin." he said, judging the man on the ramp to not be above a subtle bribery.

"Sure am. What's your name, fella?" the big bruiser of a man in a long brown coat asked. Apparently the captain of the ship, he was over 6 feet tall and built like a sasquatch, bushy thick beard and moustache compensating for his bald head.

"Ted Elliot." he said, remembering the name on his false ID.

"Well, I'm Captain Montgomery Dixon, but everybody calls me Monty. And this here's the Walrus 1. Welcome aboard!" he said, clapping Eldinn on the back hard enough to jar loose a few fillings.

* * *

><p>"Daddy?"<p>

Jamie heard the small voice from the doorway, and saw the boy leaning in; they'd gone and picked up some clothes to tide him over before leaving Brising Amen, and he was wearing pajamas that looked like they had spaceships on them.

"Hey, short stuff. You should be asleep." Jamie murmured, reaching out to the boy anyways.

"Couldn't. Bed was vibrating."

"Ahh, yea. Took me a while to get used to the vibrations too. Part and parcel of living on a ship." Jamie set aside his data pad and picked up the boy, settling him in his lap.

"S'loud. Whatcha doin here, daddy?"

"Just doing some work. We usually have somebody on the bridge, even at night, just so Serenity doesn't fly herself into a moon or asteroid." Jamie said, deadpan.

"Cap'n Mal wouldn't be happy, huh?" the boy asked, a pretty solid deadpan face of his own.

"I'd say he wouldn't." Jamie was surprised at how quickly the boy had come to accept him as a father. He'd imagined the boy might be more recriminating about it.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Brian asked.

"Those are the layout plans of a clinic, like we found you in. I'm studying it to find where they've hidden their secret surgical suites." Jamie felt the slight shudder go through the boy, and immediately regretted saying it.

"Is that what you do?"

"Among other things. Cap'n Mal keeps me on board because I was trained to be a lawman, to use the cortex and all sorts of other things to follow bad guys."

"Cap'n Mal ain't trained?" the boy asked ingenuously.

"Not to be a lawman; he's trained at all sorts of other things, though. I'm best when working with computer records, like this, or opening locks."

"Oh." the boy said, running a finger idly over the data pad.

"Would you like to use it?"

"Sure!"

"Hmm, let's see. I don't really keep kid's games on here, but we might be able to find...ahh! What would you like to look up?" He pulled up the universal search engine.

The boy cast his eyes around on the bridge, and centered his view on the plastic dinosaurs on the console.

"Dinos'rs!"

"Okay, let's look up dinosaurs." He typed swiftly, and the boy's eyes got wider. The information started popping up a few seconds later; they were pretty far from a cortex node, so the information took longer to get there.

The screen filled with information, pictures, and video about dinosaurs. Jamie let Brian explore a bit, looking at renderings and fossils, video tutorials and kid's sites. He was surprised at the familiarity and speed the boy expressed, but then again, he shouldn't be _that_ surprised; this was his kid, after all.

"He's lyin'." Brian said, pointing at the video inset on the site he was currently on.

"What's that?" Jamie said; his brain had been wandering elsewhere; when he pulled his attention to the video, he saw that the boy was right; the man on the video _was_ lying about something, the lie written all over his face; a quick sidebar cortex check found what it was. The fossil the man'd been talking about had been presumed to be lost in transit, but had in fact been stolen; the man on the video had been complicit in the theft. He'd been caught, and sent to prison.

"How'd you know that?"

"It was written on his face." Jamie was a bit floored by that; Brian might be like him?

"You can see when people are thinking about something, can't you? Their faces tell you?"

"Yep."

"I can do it too."

"Really?" Brian said, face brightening up.

"Yep. We should keep this to ourselves for a while, til we talk to Uncle Simon, okay?"

"'Kay...Do you remember my momma?"

_Oof. That wasn't a question I wanted to answer right now._

"Yes, I do now. She was very kind, and we had something very special, but only for a night. I'd been promoted at my work then, and I had needed to go where that job took me."

"Mmm. Why didn' you come f'r me?" the boy snuffled, already knowing the answer.

"I didn't know, buddy. She never told me she had you. If she had, you bet I'd have come runnin'."

Brian buried his face in Jamie's chest, then after a while, picked it up again. "I miss momma."

"I wish I'd known her better, kiddo. She was a special lady. But then, she gave me a special son."

Brian smiled, then buried his face in Jamie's chest again, relaxing. Jamie set the cortex pad down on the console and leaned back, dozing off himself.

* * *

><p>Inara woke gently with the rising light of the morning cycle, and saw that Jamie was absent. She smirked, knowing where she'd find him. She dressed quickly, and started up towards the bridge after checking Brian's little room; empty.<p>

River was up already, and smiled up from her coffee as Inara walked through. "Good morning."

"Good morning. How're you feeling today?" Inara asked; she knew the events at the surgery had been hard on River.

"Better, now. It's just something I have to deal with, I'm afraid. They did their work too well."

"I'm sorry, mei mei. I know it's hard. I wanted to say that you're doing much better than I ever dreamed back before Miranda."

"I know. My mind is mine again. I don't suppose I'll ever be really sane, but that still puts me ahead of most everybody else on the crew." River said cheekily.

"Brat." Inara said, her grin belying the word.

"I took a capture, by the way."

"Of?"

"You'll see." River said smugly, taking a sip of coffee.

Inara walked forward up the hall to the bridge, and peeked in; Jamie was snoring lightly, and Brian was sprawled across his lap, asleep. Inara smiled, and gently woke Jamie.

"Muh...hey, bao bei." he said, trying to make sure Brian didn't slide off his lap.

"Hello. Seems you found a friend." she said softly, grinning.

"Couldn't sleep in my bed." Brian said softly, waking up.

"Well, you'll get used to the ship noises. It just takes a while." Inara said. "We should get you cleaned up and changed, then Jenny's going to be cooking breakfast.

"'Kay." the boy said, climbing off Jamie's lap and taking Inara's hand. "You comin, daddy?"

Jamie smiled wider now. "Just in a few minutes, short stuff."

"Kay."

* * *

><p>The warning messages came in at 3 separate private clinics and surgeries. With immaculate care, the staffs at the clinics cleaned up any evidence, deleting the computer drives and setting destruct timers before leaving; surprises were left behind.<p>

They scattered, going in all different directions once they'd gotten passage offplanet, but not before making certain arrangements.


	10. Chapter 10

They were an hour from atmo over Anson's World, and most everybody was in the bay, prepping. They'd bought folding tables with raised edges, so weapons maintenance could be done in the cargo bay rather than the galley.

The sting team for the day was Mal, River, Jayne, Zoe, Jamie, and Jenny; the rest would remain either with Serenity, or the shuttle they'd be taking to reach the private clinic, which was some miles from the spaceport. Inara and Simon would be the standby in the shuttle, which they'd equipped with crash seating, a long bench seat, and a single collapsible stretcher in case they needed to use it for medevac.

Jamie stopped Brian at the door of the galley. "Alright, son. Here's the rule. When people are getting ready in the bay, I don't want you to go in there and bother them. They're cleaning and loading their guns, and although everybody is careful, I don't want any accidents, dohn ma? Guns are dangerous."

Brian nodded solemnly; Jamie was suddenly thankful that Brian was such a smart kid.

"Maybe we can have Uncle Jayne set you up a special deactivated weapon, so you can learn how to use it properly and safely. I do want you to learn that soon, just not right now, okay?"

The boy nodded again.

"Good boy. Why don't you go see Uncle Wash? He said he could keep you company while we're landing and on the job. Don't distract him from flying, but I bet he'll show you how he flies if you pay good attention."

"Kay, daddy!" Brian said, and ran off towards the bridge.

Jamie went down to the cargo bay and sat opposite Inara at her table, taking out his own weapon and beginning to strip and clean it. The medium frame 9mm automatic he'd picked up on Ares during his first few months on Serenity was working well; he'd modified it slightly, with Jayne's help (the man was a master gunsmith, after all), to accommodate laser sights and, if necessary, a silencer. He'd also made some after-market modifications to its clip, to accomodate the taser rounds they'd come to favor for quick nonlethal takedowns.

"I'm not sure I like him knowing how to use guns." Inara said, finally, after focusing on her weapon for a while (she'd bought a similar automatic to Jamie's.)

"It's better for him to know how to use them safely, than not at all. I hope he never has to use them, truthfully, but he's better off understanding how dangerous they are and learning to respect them. We won't teach him to shoot, at least not yet. Just start him on how to handle them safely, if he ever has to."

"I know, bao bei." Inara didn't look or sound convinced though.

Jayne piped in from two tables down. "Hell, I shot my first gun when I was 5. The boy deserves to have the chance, at least."

Inara just shot him an exasperated look.

* * *

><p>The shuttle landed on the pad near the front door of the McLaren building, and disgorged its passengers. Several local plainclothes lawmen were already onsite, keeping an eye on the building.<p>

"Hasn't been any activity." the elder lawman said, as Mal approached.

"We'll go in anyways. Do you have any people around the back?"

"Yea, two men."

"Alright, they'll take the back door." Mal said, pointing to Jim Raven's team, which was just disembarking from their own shuttle.

"Johnson!" the older man said, motioning to one of the deputies.

"Sir?"

"Take the second team around back, show them the rear entrance."

"Aye, sir." the deputy said, going off to collect Raven's team.

"Jim, eyes open. No activity so far today, but we'll see what's up here."

"Aye aye." Raven said, winking, then leading the rest of his people off to the back entry.

* * *

><p>The front door cracked slowly open; peeking around the corner with a fiber line, seeing the front desk and entryway deserted. The lights were on, and the detector in the fiberline signalled that the cameras were active. The infrared detector didn't pick up any laser detectors, however.<p>

They slowly moved around the corner, checking each door with military precision; they'd all taken brief training courses in tactical entries after taking the positions as Marshals.

Mal was in the lead, light submachine gun at the ready, when he felt something snap under his foot. He looked down, and saw the monofilament line just at foot level.

"Oh, go se! Get down!"

The flashbang went off, blinding Mal and Jayne for a moment, and stunning the pair of them and Jenny.

The automatic weapons fired then.

* * *

><p>Static, static all over. The clinic was too far in the middle of a busy city for River's taste; despite her continued growing stability, too many minds tended to press on her, filling her with nonsense, distracting her from her purpose.<p>

She felt the warm dark of Mal's mind embrace hers; he'd been focusing on his control, and was already better than her at blocking out the others. He could form a matrix around and throughout her mind, give her structure to build on.

She heard/felt/saw the snapping of the monofilament-tripwire-trap! The light was blinding, and she felt the concussive pulse ripple through both her body and mind, as Mal, Jayne, and Jenny were stunned...

The thudding of automatic weapons triggered her instincts; she dropped, flowing out of the way of the oncoming shots; the others weren't so lucky. She felt the impacts as 15 shots found their mark, both stinging grazes and hammering blows on body armor.

Her control fragmented and shattered as she felt the bite of a shot through the armor, and another glancing shot off the skull that wasn't hers; Mal's protection about her mind fell, as he dropped to the ground, and River _saw red-darkness flooded her-training surged into consciousness-7.8 meters away-5 minds-5.2 seconds until reload-destruction of targets in estimated 9.3 seconds-draw sword now-_

_River!_

The voice in her head shocked her back to consciousness, and she turned from where she was sprawled, to see his piercing blue eyes, looking at her in pain and fear and shock, not for his own injuries but for the darkness that had flooded her. She took her hand off the blade on her back, and instead drew her small-frame 9mm automatic from its hip holster.

The automatics at the end of the hall went silent, and the 5 men standing there began the swift process of reloading, but they were too slow for her. She rose to one knee, steadying her weapon in the Weaver stance Mal had taught her, and 5 perfectly aimed shots rang out in the space of a second, almost like an automatic weapon's stutter.

The 5 men at the end of the hall shuddered and convulsed, collapsing to the floor with 1 taser round imbedded in each man's solar plexus.

She pushed with her mind now, looking for more; there were no others in the facility, except the 5 in the rear that were being engaged by Raven's crew. She could see Ken Baldwin taking a shot in the upper thigh, another burying itself in his shoulder, missing the body armor. The others had taken armor-shots and grazes, but nothing else life-threatening.

She found herself calling into the comm on her wrist.

"Shots fired, officers down! Medevac required, front and rear! Reynolds and Baldwin down, get in here Simon!"

"_Enroute."_

"_On the way." _ said Maggie's caramel tones.

* * *

><p>Simon didn't mistake the forced calm in her voice; he knew she would be a panicking wreck by the time he got in. Inara landed the shuttle right next to the front doors, and Jamie and Zoe ran out, both favoring their chests, but moving easiliy enough and with only a few grazes. They grabbed the collapsible stretcher, and ran in with Simon following close behind.<p>

Jayne and Jenny were cuffing the incapacitated enemies, and River was frantically trying to stabilize the bleeder in Mal's shoulder. Simon gently pushed her aside, and sprayed biofoam into the wounds, stopping the external bleeding.

"We need to get him to the infirmary right away!"

They picked up the stretcher gently, and carried it to the shuttle; River followed close behind.

The local lawmen came in now, taking custody of the 5 assailants, and carting them off to the local cells to await later pickup.

* * *

><p>River sat on the couch, inwardly focused, as Simon fought to keep Mal with them. She tried to block it out, tried not to <em>feel<em>, but could only sit there and accept it, accept the constant pain and terror of Mal's not-quite-doped mind, the almost cold and controlled exterior of Simon's exceptionally brilliant mind that was wrapped around a seething core of emotions, the biting grazes and pounding bruises of the others, as Inara checked everyone over; Zoe was assisting in the surgery on Mal, as she had the steadiest hands and most experience as an impromptu battlefield medic; she was also the least injured of them all.

She buried her face in her hands again, trying to block out the sight of the shots hitting her beloved Mal; she would be hiding somewhere on Serenity if it had been before, before she had entwined her essence with his; now she could only sit and wait.

* * *

><p>The little boy collided with Jamie in a thudding impact, rocking the man back and eliciting a groan of pain as the boy threw himself against the bruise on his chest.<p>

Brian pulled back, seeing the pain grip his daddy's face. "'m sorry, daddy. Didn' mean to hurt."

"You didn't, buddy. Just sore." Jamie whispered, and pulled the boy back to him, giving him as big a hug as his bruised body felt comfortable with.

"You alright?"

"I am now." he said, trying to smile, and failing miserably.

"Uncle Mal'll be alright, Uncle Simon is the best." the boy said with complete and total confidence.

"I think you're right, bud." Jamie felt more confidence now than before; Brian's optimism was catching.

"Daddy, you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"I know I am, but I think Aunt River really needs a hug right now."

"'Kay, daddy." the boy said, running off to find Auntie River. He found her sitting silently and alone in the common room, staring at the 'firmary door; he read the vibes she was putting off, prayers to a god she didn't believe in of _oh god please let him be okay_ and self-incriminations of _this is my fault i should have seen should have known should have taken it myself_. The boy paused for a moment, then pushed ahead, through the thoughts that grew thick around her, that tried to form a rampart against anyone else.

She held out her arms as he approached, despite her expanding rampart of regrets, and he climbed into her lap, wrapping her up in a hug. He felt her tears begin, felt them soaking into his shirt, and waited patiently for her to let out all of the bad feeling.

Finally, her mind cleansed, she kissed him on the top of his head and hugged him again, thanking him silently, words not having the impact she needed.

They sat and waited, orphans of the world, waiting for the man who had saved them both to be saved.


	11. Chapter 11

She swam in dreams, her own, her family's...her own dreams were a bizarre mix of fractured images of the Academy, intermixed with her newly made memories of her marriage with Mal, and a thousand other snippets of her new life aboard Serenity.

She could feel the dream of the boy in her arms, see his terror at being abandoned once again, dreams of men with monsters' faces and greedy eyes. She unconsciously soothed his dreams, leading him down into dark, dreamless sleep where the monsters couldn't get to him.

She felt a new dream begin, one that was very familiar to her now; gunfire, screaming air attack craft, mud, and the sounds of men dying indiscriminately; this was a dream from Mal!

River snapped suddenly awake, and gently set the boy down on the couch, leaving him to his sleep. She got up and ran to the infirmary, seeing Simon napping fitfully on the second bed; he must have finished with the surgery late last night and collapsed on the side-bed, too exhausted to get to his own bed.

She reached out and felt Mal's own familiar mind, its comforting darkness enveloping her as she gently slid hers around it; his dream had slid away at her gentle probing, and he was in a deep sleep now. She saw the extent of the surgery just above the edge of his sheet; Simon had been able to remove the shot, she saw, repairing the internal damage, and had sewed Mal up neatly. His head wound was only really a flesh wound, with the barest graze on the skull itself; that too was neatly covered and cleaned.

She sat on the chair that had been left beside the bed, ostensibly by Simon (he knew she would be here as soon as she could.) She lay her head gently against Mal's undamaged side and let herself drift off to sleep, a small smile on her face, surrounded by her Mal once again.

* * *

><p>Jamie woke up early the next morning, and went to check on Mal; he found Brian on the couch, curled up with a pillow, and saw River sleeping against Mal, a smile on her face. From that, he assumed that Mal was recovering now, also evidenced by Simon sleeping deeply on the side-bed.<p>

He felt Inara's presence silently glide up behind him, and wrap her arms around him. "He'll be okay, I think." He laced his fingers around hers, and leaned back into her, enjoying the feel of her around him. She lay her head on his shoulder and they stood silently, savoring the moment.

"Looks like." He went over to Brian, and gently woke the boy.

"Hey, buddy. Looks like you helped Auntie River."

"Mmhmm." the boy said, still rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Good boy. Let's go get cleaned up, and we'll see about getting some breakfast soon's everybody's up."

"Kay, daddy."

* * *

><p>"Ahh, Mrs. Washburne. What news? I heard from Talmudge that the clinic they entered was deserted."<p>

"They twigged to us after the Delphine surgery. They left booby traps and mercs, nearly killed the Cap'n and Baldwin."

"Damn. Is the Captain going to recover soon?"

"He's down right now, but Simon left a note afore he passed out that he'd be fine. Lost some blood, won't be back to battery for a few weeks."

"And Baldwin?"

"Just heard from Mendez; he lost some blood too, but he's going to be fine. Leg and shoulder."

"It's good that they'll recover, at least. This is disquieting though."

"I think you got a leak somewheres." Zoe said, her face grim. She still didn't like the former Operative much at all, and although she'd work with him, and be civil, she wasn't like to change her mind about him.

"I think you're right. I'll put Charles on it right away. Oh, this business with the child you found-"

"You take that kid away from Jamie, and you'd best be makin' out yer will." Zoe shot back. Marcus looked properly chagrined.

"Nothing like that at all. I meant that I will speak with Charles and get a special dispensation for the boy; normally, Marshal ships can not carry children. I'll also ensure that the paperwork for his legal custody is expedited."

"Much obliged."

"I'll be in touch with you soon. I need to speak with a few friends of mine regarding this information leak. Once I do, I think we need to meet somewhere, all of our ships. I think Wayborne Skyplex is enough in the middle of our positions; set a course there and we'll meet in about a week. It seems to be a good time to lay low, and assess our options. I'll need you to be in operational command of the unit until Mal recovers."

"Understood." Zoe said, clearing the connection.

"Wayborne?" Wash asked, expectantly.

"Set us a course."

"Yes, Ma'am." he said, saluting sloppily.

"And don't you forget it." Zoe smirked at him, giving him a kiss before walking off the bridge.

* * *

><p>"So how's he gonna be?" she asked, striding into the infirmary. Simon was up, looking rumpled and unshaven, checking Mal's vitals as he weakly protested.<p>

"I'll be fine, Zo." Mal said in a rough whisper.

"He took a shot to the head, fortunately his skull is solid all the way through, or I'd worry about fractures." Simon quipped, drawing a smile from both Zoe and River, who was sitting next to him. "The chest shot went clean through the ribs, no damage there; although he took a nick through the lung and got a graze on one of the chest arteries. Both of those should heal up nicely.

"In general, Captain, you'll be annoying us for many years to come."

"Thanks for the encouragement." Mal groused, smirking his thanks to Simon even as he said it. River got up quickly and hugged Simon tightly, kissing him on the cheek. She returned to Mal's side, leaning her forehead against the uninjured side of his.

"Zo, got a minute?"

"Come on, mei mei, let them talk."

River reluctantly abandoned her contact with Mal and went with Simon, pulling the door shut behind them.

"What's happening?"

"Talmudge called, his operation was a bust. Nobody there. The computers were well and truly trashed, but his people are pulling the drives, hoping to find something. The locals checked on the final clinic, place was abandoned just the same. Ain't hopin' ta find nothin' there. No word yet on the people that rabbited; Marshal teams are trying to find the passages that were booked, and the ID's used, but nothing to show so far.

"Talked to Marvela, he said for us to lay low fer a while, and for all of us to meet at Wayborne Skyplex for a parlay."

"Sounds like a plan. Maybehaps I'll be feeling up to wandering 'bout a bit, seems we ain't been off the ship for nothin' but work in a long while now."

"Only been on the go for two weeks, sir. We used ta go months in the Black without settin' foot on dirt."

"Guess I'm gettin' soft." Mal grinned.

"Means we're startin' to live the way we shoulda, not hidin' our way 'cross the 'Verse. Even I'm gettin a bit antsy for some time planetside."

* * *

><p>"Thank you. This is good news!" the old man chortled, getting off the 'Wave with his operations chief; the man was not only his Ops chief, but also handled all of his intelligence and agents across the 'Verse. The man was a gifted amateur spymaster, and had cultivated many interesting contacts within the Alliance infrastructure, even managing to retain most of them during the purges following the Academy Hearings months before, and the subsequent fall of Blue Sun. Niska had lost a substantial percentage of his fortunes when Blue Sun stock prices plummeted.<p>

The man had just intercepted a 'Wave communication between the man who had recently emerged as the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff and liaison, and the ship Serenity.

Adelai Niska pressed a button on his 'Wave console, and called another man. The visual screen showed only the lower half of a face that was buried in shadows.

"Valentin."

"It is Adelai Niska. I have a job for you."

"What's the price?" the man asked disinterestedly, in a slight Russian accent.

"1 million credits."

"Which parliament member?" the man asked, and Niska could hear the laugh tinging the words.

"Not a parliament member. I want you to kill Malcolm Reynolds."

"You got a location?"

"Yess, I do." the man cackled.

* * *

><p>"Ken should be alright, then?"<p>

"That's the gist of what Maggie told me. He'll be down for a few weeks though, needs time to recover."

"And everything's alright with Mal? River's like to be frantic about now." Cora asked, gently massaging the bruises on Jim's chest with a soothing ointment.

"He should be fine, from what Zoe told me. Just an unlucky shot, it seems; got right through the armor."

"From the stories, that man seems a magnet for bullets."

"Bullets, knives, swords...he's taken quite the beating a few times."

"How is it that you've avoided that?"

"Clean and virtuous living?"

She giggled and shook her head slowly, then kissed him deeply. He kissed back, and she felt his arms go around her, gliding on her skin.

"I'm glad we'll have a few days in transit. We haven't had enough time to just be together."

"You're right. This job has been kind of hot and cold. Not quite what I expected."

"Mmm." she murmured, driven to distraction by his hands. The man had such skilled and elegant hands, she had come to know; he had long, nimble fingers, and he could play her like a piano. She kissed him again, as he began to play a symphony.

* * *

><p>The 4 day trip to Wayborne Skyplex was taken at a leisurely pace; they were in no hurry, as the meet was set for 7 days. It would give them a few days to wander the station, do some shopping, and in general, relax while they waited for Calamity Jane and the others to arrive.<p>

As they approached Wayborne, Mal forced himself to walk slowly up to the bridge. River saw him coming ahead of time, and evacuated her chair for him to have a seat.

Simon came in a few minutes later, and groaned when he saw the captain ignoring his orders for bed rest _yet again._

"You're never going to heal properly if you don't stay resting, Captain."

"And I won't if ya keep naggin' at me neither, _mom_."

"I am serious, Captain. You could pull the injury and tear the sutures open again; and that would make your convalescence a lot longer."

"Gorramit, doc. I feel great. Quit peckin' at me." It was true, he didn't feel like warmed-over death quite so much now; he knew he would be tired easily if he pushed too hard, and that he could pull the stitches and sutures if he pushed himself, but gorramit, he was tired of laying in his damn bunk.

"Ge ge, I'll take care of him. I'll take him on a bit of a walk around the station when we get there, then we'll come right back to lay down."

Simon rolled his eyes; once River got into things like this, he didn't have the arguments to stop her. "Fine. Just be careful. And call me if you feel any pain, Mal."

"How could I feel any with all the horse tranquilizers ya got me on?" Mal groused, clearly enjoying his newly regained ability to screw with Simon.

Simon stalked off, muttering under his breath in Chinese; Mal thought he heard something about the origins of his ancestors, and something about animal husbandry before Simon's voice got too far to hear with his ears.

"You shouldn't rile him up like that. He'll just let you bleed next time."

"Surprised he ain't yet, bao bei."

"He knows I'd kick his pi gu." Mal smiled as he glanced up at River, who had leaned her chin on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck and chest.

"Hey, you two. Impressionable child here!" Jamie groused from the navigator's chair, although Brian clearly had enjoyed the friendly exchange from the look on his face. The boy had been inseparable from either Jamie or Inara since they'd found him; although he trusted the others, he wasn't letting his parents out of his sight, it seemed. Jamie had been working on the information they'd been gathering, trying to follow trails and ID's, and Brian had somehow found his way up to the bridge and into the new father's lap. He was even helping the man search; the boy seemed to already be able to read, which was somewhat amazing for his age, River thought. Simon had told her that she had been reading at a similar age though.

_He's gonna be a smart kid, ai ren._

_He already is. I wonder if he has the proper talent to speak the way we do..._

_It wouldn't surprise me. Seems the way Jamie's talent expresses itself is right useful though; but it wouldn't be terribly bad if'n we had another on board who could see what we can._

_I'm not sure, Mal. I wouldn't wish this sort of awareness on my worst enemies. Well, maybe my worst enemies..._

_Not suggestin' we force the boy to learn, darlin'. Just thinkin' maybe we oughta be ready if he does show the talent, maybe figure out a way to teach him._

_Sound idea. I'll speak with Simon, he may have some insight._

_Just don't get me involved with it right now, sure he'll have more words to say 'bout me bein' outta bed._

_He just wants you to heal properly, ai ren. As I do. If I didn't know you were capable of walking, I'd be tying you to the bunk myself._

_Thought that was another thing he didn't want us doin?_ Mal grinned at her again. River laughed and kissed him, then headed aft.

Jamie shook his head at the silent exchange and turned his attention to the datapad in front of him. Brian got up and walked over to Mal, knowing glance in his eyes.

"Hey, kiddo. Bored o' yer daddy already?" Mal quipped.

"You and Auntie River were talkin', werentcha?"

_Huh. Guess this may be our answer. _"We were, little one. Your daddy explained a little bit about what we can do, didn't he?"

Jamie looked over again, a grin on his face, but shaking his head _no_.

"He didn't say you could talk. Like having a comm right in your ear. Could hear whispers, like the others but louder. Could you teach me?"

"We were just thinkin' 'bout that, little one."

"I know." the boy said, smiling.

"Well, I don't know if you have that ability yet, truthfully. It's something we'd have to talk with your mom and dad about, see if they're comfortable with it...it's right handy, but honestly, it's also hard to deal with at times, feelin' the pain of everybody. Maybehaps if you train it young, you can control it much better though."

"I'd like to try. Please, daddy?" the boy turned to Jamie, who had schooled his face into a blank mask.

"I don't know, bud. We'll talk with your mamma."

"Let's go then!" Brian said, grabbing Jamie's hand and pulling on him. Smirking at the two, Mal turned his attention back to the approaching station. He hit the comm for Wash, and in 10 seconds, the man was on the bridge, looking disheveled and disarrayed again.

"Sorry, got caught up in something."

"_Suuure_. Just get us docked."

"Sure thing, Cap'n. You don't need anybody up here to help you back down, do you?" he asked, concerned at the grimace on Mal's face as he gained his feet.

"Just twinges a bit standin' up."

"I surely know the feelin', Mal." Wash said. Mal caught the flash of Wash's memories from that day; after the exhilarating flight through the ongoing battle, the surge of the crash, then the stabbing pain through the chest, intermixed with a fade in and out of consciousness.

Mal put one hand on Wash's shoulder, a silent apology for the pain he'd suffered, and made his way slowly towards the galley. River appeared just as he negotiated the ladder down, and took one arm gallantly, also subtly lifting on his body and lessening the impact of walking.

"Wayborne station, this is Marshal Transport Serenity, requesting permission to dock."


	12. Chapter 12

Serenity settled smoothly against the docking collar; Wash's handywork, as River and Mal were resting on the common room couch. Mal had finally agreed to take some more pain meds, and was a bit dazed at the moment, fading in and out of consciousness.

Zoe handled the disembarkment. "Alright, everyone, we got a few days until Calamity Jane gets here. Enjoy yourselves, don't get arrested." she said with a smirk. "We're leaving at least 2 on board at all times, and we'll keep the doors closed unless we're actively in the bay. Dohn ma?"

There was a chorus of _Yes_es and a symphony of nods, then the crew of Serenity took off like leaves in winter.

"Will you be okay for first watch here?"

"We'll be fine, Zoe." River said, smiling. "Not often we get the ship to ourselves."

"Okay. Don't let him hurt himself!" Zoe said over her shoulder, as Wash dragged her towards the door, closing it behind them.

_Mmm. Reckon it's been a while since we had peace like this, bao bei._

_It does seem to avoid us, from time to time._

_Conjure Brian is a bit like us, too, not just Jamie._

_He's proven very intuitive. He was listening to us talk earlier, wasn't he?_

_I don't think he necessarily heard every word, but he could tell we were talking. Might be a good idea to help train him as part of teaching him. Boy'll need to learn how to control it, even if he doesn't want to use it._

_Sounds like an idea, bao bei. See what Jamie and Inara think._

* * *

><p>Jamie and Inara had convinced Brian to go with Simon and Kaylee, and they were finding some entertainment suitable for a 3 year old boy.<p>

The pair were wandering on the second level of the station in the nicer shops, speaking quietly.

"I'm not sure I like the idea, ai ren." Inara said, shaking her head.

"I don't know if I do either. Problem is, if he is like Mal and River, he needs the help learning how to control it."

"I guess. I just wish..."

"For what?"

"I wish he didn't have that kind of burden. It can't be a pleasant experience, feeling everybody's thoughts. River's testament enough to that."

"I'm sure it isn't. But I think it's at least worth thinking about. He's already reading our faces, it can't be much of a leap to reading minds."

Inara shushed him; he'd said that a bit too loud. Fortunately nobody had been near enough to hear.

Three stalls back, looking at some gadgets, a short black-haired man in inconspicuous clothing watched them as they went out of sight.

_Mal. Short for Malcolm? Apparently he's here._

* * *

><p>Simon and Kaylee each held one of Brian's hands, and chattered with the boy, laughing at his exuberance and curiousity. They all got an Ice Planet, and he proved to be quite skilled at eating it; one old man with a box of puppies let Brian play with one for a few minutes, before Simon and Kaylee reluctantly pulled the boy away. He was surprisingly mature about it; he turned away when they called and came without overt emotion.<p>

He reminded Simon of River at that age; she had an early self-awareness, a knowing glance, and was correcting his spelling by the age of 3. The look the boy gave him when he thought that was even more River; he gave Simon a knowing look and rolled his eyes, _just like River!_

Simon knelt down beside him now. "You can hear us thinking, can't you?"

"Sometimes. Li'l whispers, 'n when Aunt River and Uncle Mal are talkin' without words. When Uncle Mal got shot, heard Auntie River cryin' before they got back to the ship." He didn't say that he'd felt Aunt River go down a very dark path, get lost in nightmare, only to be jerked back by Mal's whispers.

"It's a rare gift. Your Auntie River could do that very young too."

"She hears too much, though." Brian said, a look of concern.

"She does. It's not easy on her. She always needs our help and our love to keep from being washed away."

Brian only nodded, then grinned. "She's happy right now."

"You can hear her from here?"

"She's loud. Talks in a voice 'stead of whispers. Uncle Mal too."

"Well, your mom and dad will have to help you decide if you want to learn how to use that."

"I know. Want to."

"Come on, let's get something to eat." Simon said, and they both took his hands again, walking to the top deck of the Skyplex where the planetside skylights gave a beautiful view of the moon that Wayborne orbited, and where all the food courts were situated. Kaylee had been grinning the whole time, seeing how good Simon was with the boy. She put her hand over her own belly, only barely showing yet.

Jamie and Inara arrived a few minutes later, and selecting their own meals, joined the trio at the table. Brian greeted his parents with a hug and kiss each, and said abruptly "I wanna learn." The look in his eyes told Jamie and Inara exactly what he meant.

Jamie immediately took his meaning, and beamed at the boy. "Then we'll do everything we can to help you learn." Inara was momentarily overwhelmed, and fussed over the boy's chosen meal (a soy stirfry that should have sent Simon into palpitations with its nutritional lackings) to cover it. The boy grinned at her though, and simply dug into his food.

* * *

><p>Apparently it was his good luck. Reynolds was here; a friendly fellow at the docking station had been persuaded, via some currency coersion, to say that Serenity was docked at one of the main freight docking slips. There wasn't a crew manifest, but he'd heard that 11 had stepped off the boat, including a small kid.<p>

_Strange; didn't Niska say that this was a Marshal transport? Why would they have a kid aboard?_

It looked as if Reynolds hadn't got off the boat yet though. He'd approached close enough to see the docking port, and the ramp was down, the airlock doors sealed. They weren't fools then; they knew enough to keep locked up, and they probably moved in pairs or groups.

With the patience, skill, and experience of decades of his trade, the black-haired man settled into the crowd, completely inconspicuous, and waited.

He'd never failed a job before.

* * *

><p>After finishing their meal in the food court, the 5 returned to their shopping; Simon and Kaylee went off towards a section of the shopping area that dealt in baby things. Jamie and Inara took Brian off towards a clothier and general store, where they could fill out the boy's wardrobe and get the essentials.<p>

After another hour's shopping, Jamie noticed the boy yawning hugely. "I think it's time for a little boy to go to bed."

"Not tired." the boy mumbled, rather unsuccessfully because he was falling asleep as he sat.

"We'll have these delivered." Inara told the clerk at the clothier, giving the name of the ship and the port number.

"Thank you ma'am." the clerk said, smiling at the boy. He waved sleepily good-bye, then rested his head on Jamie's shoulder, losing his battle with sleep.

Inara walked back on that side, hand in Jamie's.

Arriving back on Serenity, they found Mal and River loitering in the cargo bay, obviously waiting for them to return.

"Hey there. Tired him out, huh?" Mal said softly.

"Yep, big day out. Simon and Kaylee found all sorts of things for him to do."

"You mind keepin' an eye out while we go out explorin'?"

"We're on duty. Go have some fun."

Mal and River walked out, Mal still favoring his left side. Jamie closed up the airlock behind them, kissed the boy goodnight, then retrieved his datapad and sat down on the couch in the common room, where he could keep an eye on the main door. Inara came from putting Brian to bed and joined him, laying on the couch with her head and shoulders in his lap, just reveling in his presence.

It had been a strange week and a half for Inara; from finding out that Jamie was a father, to seeing the way he had taken to this new role, seeing the look of wonder on his face when he saw his sleeping son. He was so kind, so full of love to be able to take in this child that he didn't even know he had; it had been a stroke of fortune to even find the boy before he'd been used and disposed of by the organ ring. An involuntary shudder ran through her, but Jamie's hand on her cheek steadied her as he continued working.

A 'Wave alert came up on his 'pad, and he opened it; _Lady's Revenge_ had nearly arrived on the Skyplex, and _Bu Kuh Nuhn_ was about 3 hours out. They still had nearly 2 days before _Calamity Jane_ was due to arrive, so they would have plenty of time to meet with the others before they got here.

Jamie set aside the 'pad and leaned back, putting one hand over Inara's belly and the other behind her head, gently massaging. Both were asleep in minutes.

* * *

><p>Mal felt an insistent alarm bell ringing in his head as he walked with River in the open areas of the Skyplex. He could sense that she could feel it too, despite not visibly reacting; they were in a semi-crowded area though, and that had to be taking a considerable portion of her control just to prevent the voices and emotions from being overwhelming.<p>

Mal could shut out the other voices now, but it made it harder to pinpoint the person that was setting off his alarms.

_You're feeling it, yea?_

_Someone with dark intent. Not uncommon to feel with enough around, but this feels directed._

_Got a make on it yet?_

_No. He's good. A ghost, moving silently. Hard to pin down. Professional._

_Wanna give him a moving target?_ Mal grinned at her. Her voice remained annoyingly impassive though.

_Not in your current condition. He'll take us in a side corridor, especially because we're moving in pairs. We need to pick a place and get Jayne and Jenny in position to defend, and maybe we can take him alive._

_Sounds a plan._

* * *

><p>Jayne and Jenny walked hand-in-hand along the 3rd level shops of the Skyplex; if anybody thought it amusing that the little strawberry blonde girl and the big merc were holding hands, they kept their peace about it. The handgun strapped to her hip might have influenced that as well, along with her semi-military pants and shirt.<p>

Jayne found himself looking over his shoulder, though. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Jenny was nervous too.

"You feel it too, bao bei?"

"Something on the air. There's a hunter out there." she muttered, keeping her right hand free and hovering over the 9 mm automatic.

"Let's find out what's happening." Jayne said, testing their new comm by calling the Captain; he got only static in response. "Damn, either this newfangled go se is on the fritz, or somebody's tryin' to block us." He pressed the other buttons, calling the various other channels; he got lucky with Jamie's.

"_Jayne, what's happening?"_

"I can't get through t'the Cap'n and Riv. Any luck from yer end?"

There was a moment of silence, then a return call. _"Negative on that, Jayne. No contact. Give us a second."_

"Me and Jen'll try ta find the Captain. Know whereabouts they went?"

_"Heard they were heading for the second level, near the open areas."_

"Roger that. Let you know when I got more."

* * *

><p>Jamie looked up as he finished the call with Jayne. Inara had woken up and was sitting up in concern; he looked over his shoulder and saw Brian standing just outside his door, holding onto the little stuffed dragon they had found for him. "Can't sleep, daddy." he said, clearly distraught.<p>

"Well, come here, buddy. What's wrong?" Jamie asked. In the time he'd been on board, they'd learned that he generally did not wake up during the night without good reason.

"Uncle Mal and Auntie River. They're worried."

If Jamie had any remaining doubts about the boy's abilities, he would doubt no longer.

"Can you hear them?"

"Like whispers. Too quiet to hear it all. They're feeling hunted though."

Jamie cursed quietly, then picked up his comm as the boy sat on his lap. "Jayne, come in!"

"_Jayne here."_

"Brian's worried 'bout the Captain and Riv, you found 'em yet?"

"_No, we're heading that way though. Try to call again soon's we find 'em."_

"Right. Let me know. I'll send Petaline and Badge up that way too, and Zoe and Wash if they answer."

"_Roger."_

Dialing in for Petaline and Badger, Jamie got only static. On Zoe and Wash's channel, though, he was able to pick them up; it was staticky and hard to hear.

"_Ja-e, -ead you, but -'re b-ak-g up."_

"Zoe, Captain and River are on the second level in the open area, and we think they're in trouble. Can you get there?"

"_-ke us a f-w m-tes t- -et d-n -ere. -'ll he-d o-t -w."_

"Roger, over and out."

Jamie turned to his datapad, finding a plan of the skyplex; he knew approximately where each team was, and he could see that all were slightly too far to reach Mal and River any time soon. He could only hope they would stay in a crowd until reinforcements arrived. He didn't have any way to contact them...unless...

"Brian, can you-"

"'Kay, daddy." the boy said, closing his eyes and furrowing his brow in concentration.

* * *

><p>The dark-haired man continued to follow inconspicuously, taking side-passages to avoid direct encounters and to not appear in their vision too often, but near enough to maintain vision of them.<p>

They were walking without any guards, without any assistance nearby; and they couldn't have any comms with the low-level jammer he had on his person. It would only affect certain comm signals, and although people around him were noticing that their own comms were failing, nobody could put the connection together in the limited time he'd be here.

The silenced pistol in a belly pouch under his shirt would protect his secrecy and take down the target, and he'd soon be a million credits richer.

Only one thing bothered him; the client had said nothing about Reynolds having a woman. The girl couldn't have been more than 20, more than 10 years Reynolds' junior, but as they walked arm in arm, he couldn't help but feel that there was more at play than Niska had said. He'd had the time to do some digging on the Cortex, on the trip to Wayborne; Reynolds had been linked to the takedown of several major slave rings, and had reportedly been involved in the recent collapse of the Zhu Que illicit organ transplant ring.

This man was a gorram hero. So what was Niska wanting to kill him for?

He'd heard about that too, from people inside Niska's organization. Reynolds had reportedly defied Niska not once, but twice, with Reynolds' people actually storming his Skyplex to recover him; the man was a survivor, and Niska did not look lightly on anyone defying him.

On the one hand, Niska rarely ordered hits against members of the Alliance, given the dire consequences of being linked with such attempts; on the other, Reynolds hadn't always been a Marshal, and they had apparently made enemies of each other.

So why was he feeling guilt about this? This was just another job.

The dark-haired man saw his target come to a stop, along with the young woman; both acquired a blank look on their faces. They then grinned.

* * *

><p><em>I'm gonna get that boy a present. <em>Mal thought, grinning at River.

She matched his grin. _He's going to get a bigger one from me._

_How long are we supposed to stall him?_

_Hard to say. Brian probably couldn't get it across, that short of a message, and I doubt he could maintain one much longer; but we'll stall as long as we have to._

River and Mal headed towards a side passage, one of the many that coursed through this Skyplex.

Unnoticed by anyone else, a dark-haired man entered an adjacent passage.

River and Mal walked through the passage, ears and minds open. They could feel the presence near them now; without the static of hundreds of others, they could feel the texture and shape of this mind. It was smooth, cold; without a great deal of human warmth, this was a mind trained to stealth and silence, the mind of an assassin.

River wheeled suddenly, drawing her weapon smoothly. she aimed it into the darkness of a crosscut passage, apparently drawing an accurate bead on the man who stood there. A laser dot traveled up Mal's body, centering on his head.

"If you pull the trigger, you die." River said coldly. "No way to spend your bounty. No joy of a successful job, only death."

"Well, little girl. You have some courage in you." a whispered voice said. "I bear no ill will towards you or Reynolds. This is purely business."

"Then put your weapon away. Death is not a business." River said, keeping a cold reserve. Mal could feel her mind straining at the leash, could feel her control eroding, and helped infuse that control with his own. He turned towards their invisible assailant now. "You won't never get a cleaner shot. You wanna fulfill your contract and give your boss what he wants without a payment? Go ahead."

The silencer on the pistol, just barely glinting in the light, did not waver in the slightest; but Mal and River both could feel the mind of the man shifting; he was a professional then. He wasn't here to kill them in cold blood, he was here to earn his wage.

"Reynolds. Who's your little friend here?"

"She's my wife, ta ma de hun dan. You wantin' ta make a widow this day? Pull that trigger."

There was a zip-click, then another; two figures slid out of the shadows and revealed themselves, standing against the assassin.

"You better drop that gun, hun dan. No way outta this." Jenny said clearly.

They heard his movement backwards down the cross cut, but the zip-click of a heavier weapon behind him caught their attention, revealing Zoe standing there with her Mare's Leg.

"I'd suggest you drop the iron, Liu Kou Shui De Biao Zi He Hou Zi De Er Zi."

As Jayne approached closer, and the light hit his face, the stranger put down the weapon and stepped forward, face in some awe. "Jayne Cobb, is that you?"

"...Dobro? Dobro Valentin?"

"You crazy son of a bitch." the man said, approaching Jayne, and the men embraced, exchanging a manly bear hug. The others were astonished, and slowly lowered their weapons.

River stepped forward now, grinning. "Another pair of Shadows meets. The Ghost and the Wraith, together again."

"Jayne? What have you told-" Dobro started.

"Not a damn thing more than she guessed." Jayne said, chuckling. "Come on, we got catching up to do."

"We can't say anything without-"

"Spectre's here, well, almost. They'll be here soon."

"Uh, Jayne? Not to be gettin' in the way of yer catchin' up time, but this man threatened to kill us."

"Only you, Mal...and besides, I've even pointed a gun at you before. River too."

"He's right, bao bei." River said, a smile on her lips. "Oh, Mr. Valentin; you can turn off your comm jammer now."

"Of course." he said, his Russian accent slipping out; he switched off a button on a small wrist device.

"_Mal, do you copy?"_ Jamie said, sounding calm.

"We copy, Jamie. We're returning to Serenity now, and we got a visitor."

"_Roger that. Do you need assistance?"_

"Got most of the crew out here already." Mal said, grinning. He winced as he walked, his wound starting to pull. Zoe got in under one shoulder, and River under the other. "Might wanna get Simon back though, so he can take a look at my shoulder. I mighta pulled it."

"_I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."_ The sarcasm threatened to escape from the comm and speak under its own power at that last remark.

"Serenity, eh?" Valentin asked.

"You can probably guess where the name is from." Jayne snarked, arm going around Jenny as she nestled in under it.

Valentin merely smiled.


End file.
